A Multi-Objective Model for Meal Delivery Problem in Thailand

Abstract

The online meal delivery business in Thailand has grown substantially. Online platforms, customers, and riders are the three main stakeholders in this service system. While the platform aims to minimize total operation cost, customers would like to receive a high-quality meal. Moreover, the riders who are responsible for the pickup and delivery of meal to the customer’s house focus on maintaining their income. To address the issue, this research develops and validates a multi-objective model. The three objectives are to 1) minimize total operation costs, 2) minimize meal waiting time, and 3) maximize the number of riders receiving orders. From the experiments, the results indicate that when operation cost is the primary concern, only a small number of riders will be assigned the order. Alternatively, if the meal quality is the most important factor, orders must be distributed to all riders, which will maximize the number of riders who receive assignments at the same time.