Kahr Michael
Research Network Data Science, University of Vienna, Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, Vienna 1090, Austria.
Omega. 2022 Dec;113:102721. doi: 10.1016/j.omega.2022.102721. Epub 2022 Jul 16.
The pandemic caused by the corona virus SARS-CoV-2 raised many new challenges for humanity. For instance, governments imposed regulations such as lockdowns, resulting in supply chain shocks at different tiers. Additionally, delivery services reached their capacity limits because the demand for mail orders soared temporarily during the lockdowns. We argue that one option to support supply chain viability at the last-mile delivery tier is to use (outdoor) parcel lockers through which customers can collect their orderings 24/7 while ensuring physical distancing. The location planning of such lockers is known to be of utmost importance for their success. Another important topic to address is that the design of the compartment structure of the parcel lockers should meet the (uncertain) customer demand for different commodities. Both of the latter planning issues are combined into one optimization problem in this article. The objective is to maximize a linear function (e.g., expected profits) of the covered demand, given a budget an operator is willing to invest. An integer linear programming formulation is proposed, and a reformulation based on Benders decomposition is derived. It is shown that the Benders cuts can be separated in linear time. The developed algorithms enable solving of large-scale problem instances demonstrated by a performance analysis of computational experiments. The impact of different problem parameters on the obtained solutions is demonstrated by a sensitivity analysis. A case study based on real-world data from Austria is presented. The results show that using parcel lockers can support supply chain viability at the last-mile delivery tier. Moreover, the relatively small investment cost yields promising returns. The results further indicate that small-sized and medium-sized compartments should be preferred over large and x-large ones in the parcel locker compartment design.
由冠状病毒SARS-CoV-2引发的大流行给人类带来了许多新挑战。例如，政府实施了封锁等规定，导致不同层级的供应链受到冲击。此外，由于封锁期间邮购需求暂时飙升，快递服务达到了其容量极限。我们认为，支持最后一英里配送层级供应链可行性的一个选择是使用（户外）包裹储物柜，通过它客户可以全天候取货，同时确保保持社交距离。众所周知，此类储物柜的选址规划对其成功至关重要。另一个需要解决的重要问题是，包裹储物柜的隔层结构设计应满足客户对不同商品的（不确定）需求。本文将后两个规划问题合并为一个优化问题。目标是在运营商愿意投入的预算范围内，最大化覆盖需求的线性函数（如预期利润）。提出了整数线性规划公式，并推导了基于Benders分解的重新公式化方法。结果表明，Benders割平面可以在线性时间内分离。通过计算实验的性能分析表明，所开发的算法能够求解大规模问题实例。通过敏感性分析展示了不同问题参数对所得解的影响。给出了一个基于奥地利真实数据的案例研究。结果表明，使用包裹储物柜可以支持最后一英里配送层级的供应链可行性。此外，相对较小的投资成本能带来可观的回报。结果还表明，在包裹储物柜隔层设计中，中小尺寸隔层应优于大尺寸和超大尺寸隔层。
