Last-mile distribution planning for fruit-and-vegetable cold chains

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to formulate and solve a last-mile distribution plan problem with concern for the quality of fruits and vegetables in cold chains. Design/methodology/approach The vehicle routing problem with time windows (VRPTW) is extended based on the characteristics of fruit-and-vegetable cold chains. The properties of multiple perishable foods, continuing decline in quality, various requirements for quality levels and optimal temperature settings during vehicle transportation are considered in the VRPTW. The product quality level is defined by the estimation of residual shelf life, which changes with temperature, and is characterized by a stepped decrease during the transportation process as time goes on. A genetic algorithm (GA) is adapted to solve the problem because of its convincing ability to solve VRPTW-related problems. For this purpose, solution encoding, a fitness function and evolution operators are designed to deal with the complicated problem herein. Findings A distribution plan including required fleet size, vehicle routing sequence and what quality level should be shipped out to account for the quality degradation during vehicle transportation is generated. The results indicate that the fulfillment of various requirements of different customers for various fruits and vegetables and quality levels can be ensured with cost considerations. Originality/value This study presents a problem for last-mile delivery of fresh fruits and vegetables which considers multiple practical scenarios not studied previously. A solution algorithm based on a GA is developed to address this problem. The proposed model is easily applied to other types of perishable products.

Framework of Last Mile Logistics Research: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…Routing Traveling salesman problem with drones [96][97][98]; decision support systems [78,79,81]; vehicle routing problems [80,82,88] 9…”

Integrating Internet of Things and multi-temperature delivery planning for perishable food E-commerce logistics: a model and application

“…Table 1 summarises the major considerations and factors in VRPs particular to the handling of perishable food. The table shows that the considerations in the VRP formulation for the perishable Hsiao et al (2018) V R P T W , zone-based Padilla et al (2018) N / A Hiassat, Diabat, and Rahwan (2017) N/A Ma, Wu, and Dai 2017COSTDVRPT Bortolini et al (2016) F D P Mancini 2016MDMPVRPHF Song and Ko (2016) N / A , vehicle level Wang et al (2016) M O -V R P T W -P Amorim et al 2014HF-SD-VRPMTW Govindan et al (2014) 2E-LRPTW Nahum (2013) N / A food supply chain consists of cost, flow conservation, time window, food quality, customer satisfaction, and multi-temperature characteristics. Apart from the essential considerations, most modern VRPs involve integration with additional considerations to enrich the models and improve feasibility and adaptability.…”

“…Song and Ko (2016) formulated research for the vehicle routing problem of using refrigerated trucks for perishable food products delivery, which was useful for distribution using refrigerated trucks in the supply chain. Also, Hsiao et al (2018) presented distribution planning for cold chains considering multiple temperature settings in the vehicle storage spaces, and thus delivery using multi-temperature trucks through partitioning of various temperature zones in vehicles. However, there is still a research gap in completing the whole perishable food e-commerce logistics to achieve multi-temperature last-mile delivery planning at a parcel level.…”

Technology-Led Disruptions and Innovations: The Trends Transforming Urban Mobility

“…In the context of cities, growth in Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Commerce (B2C) services has surged the demand for utilization of light vehicles for delivery of goods in urban areas (Allen et al 2018). For businesses involved in distribution of consumer goods, solving the last-kilometer problem is a significant challenge (Hsiao et al 2018). Managing the last-kilometer delivery in a cost-effective approach is a complex task due to low volume and diverse nature of distribution tasks (Pronello et al 2017;Soleimani et al 2018).…”