Track: Logistics

Abstract

Route optimisation is a problem that most companies face everyday, and many small businesses do not have access to sophisticated solutions to their load consolidation and route planning due to the cost of acquiring and maintaining an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. However, spreadsheets are common desktop applications that is easily accessible to many small businesses and, hence, can be used for small scape optimisation of their Vehicle Routing problem (VRP).

This paper presents a case study of the spreadsheet solution for VRP in a previously disadvantaged South African community. The solution is shown to be capable of helping these small businesses with their load consolidation and route planning, and performs well for many small problem sizes. The approach shows that many small businesses can make significant savings from route planning by adopting such simple solutions, even when they cannot afford the large capital investment required for deploying the more sophisticated ERP systems.