IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orinte/v43y2013i2p142-151.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimal Routing and Assignment of Consultants for Energy Education, Inc

Author

Listed:
  • Junfang Yu

    (Department of Engineering Management, Information and Systems, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75205)

  • Randy Hoff

    (Energy Education, Inc., Dallas, Texas 75225)

Abstract

Energy Education, Inc. (EEI), a US management consulting firm, specializes in implementing energy conservation programs for schools, universities, and large churches. Similar to many consulting firms, travel expenses are among its largest budget items. Managing consultant travel for minimum cost and in a manner that meets client needs is critical. Typically, a subject matter expert at the company produces a consultant routing and assignment schedule using a labor-intensive, time-consuming, manual process; the schedule produced is usually far from optimal. The objective of our research is to minimize the total cost of consultant travel and staffing. Our models use a cluster-first, route-second methodology. We developed a set-covering binary integer programming heuristic to cluster clients based on geographic location. The relaxed consultant routing and assignment problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming model using cluster locations and demand with consultant skills and availability. In a recent 12-week period, the results of our research reduced EEI costs by 24 percent and provided several qualitative benefits. We conducted sensitivity analysis to provide EEI with improved decision analytics for additional modification of its existing processes and business routines.

Suggested Citation

  • Junfang Yu & Randy Hoff, 2013. "Optimal Routing and Assignment of Consultants for Energy Education, Inc," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 43(2), pages 142-151, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:43:y:2013:i:2:p:142-151
    DOI: 10.1287/inte.1120.0656
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/inte.1120.0656
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/inte.1120.0656?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonathan F. Bard & George Kontoravdis & Gang Yu, 2002. "A Branch-and-Cut Procedure for the Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(2), pages 250-269, May.
    2. Constantine Toregas & Ralph Swain & Charles ReVelle & Lawrence Bergman, 1971. "The Location of Emergency Service Facilities," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 19(6), pages 1363-1373, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Murray, Alan T. & Church, Richard L., 1997. "Facets for node packing," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 598-608, September.
    2. Lee, Chungmok & Han, Jinil, 2017. "Benders-and-Price approach for electric vehicle charging station location problem under probabilistic travel range," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 130-152.
    3. Mahmutoğulları, Özlem & Yaman, Hande, 2023. "Robust alternative fuel refueling station location problem with routing under decision-dependent flow uncertainty," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 306(1), pages 173-188.
    4. Shaw, Lipika & Das, Soumen Kumar & Roy, Sankar Kumar, 2022. "Location-allocation problem for resource distribution under uncertainty in disaster relief operations," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PA).
    5. Roberto Aringhieri & Giuliana Carello & Daniela Morale, 2016. "Supporting decision making to improve the performance of an Italian Emergency Medical Service," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 236(1), pages 131-148, January.
    6. Karl Schneeberger & Karl Doerner & Andrea Kurz & Michael Schilde, 2016. "Ambulance location and relocation models in a crisis," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 24(1), pages 1-27, March.
    7. Leknes, Håkon & Aartun, Eirik Skorge & Andersson, Henrik & Christiansen, Marielle & Granberg, Tobias Andersson, 2017. "Strategic ambulance location for heterogeneous regions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 260(1), pages 122-133.
    8. Coutinho-Rodrigues, João & Tralhão, Lino & Alçada-Almeida, Luís, 2012. "Solving a location-routing problem with a multiobjective approach: the design of urban evacuation plans," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 206-218.
    9. Hamaide, Bertrand & Albers, Heidi J. & Busby, Gwenlyn, 2014. "Backup coverage models in nature reserve site selection with spatial spread risk heterogeneity," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 158-167.
    10. Eliş, Haluk & Tansel, Barbaros & Oğuz, Osman & Güney, Mesut & Kian, Ramez, 2021. "On guarding real terrains: The terrain guarding and the blocking path problems," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    11. Hamaide, Bertrand & ReVelle, Charles S. & Malcolm, Scott A., 2006. "Biological reserves, rare species and the trade-off between species abundance and species diversity," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 570-583, April.
    12. Bertsimas, Dimitris & Ng, Yeesian, 2019. "Robust and stochastic formulations for ambulance deployment and dispatch," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 279(2), pages 557-571.
    13. Davood Shishebori & Lawrence Snyder & Mohammad Jabalameli, 2014. "A Reliable Budget-Constrained FL/ND Problem with Unreliable Facilities," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 549-580, December.
    14. Yen-Chieh Chen & Hsiao-Li Yao & Shou-Der Weng & Yang-Fei Tai, 2022. "An Analysis of the Optimal Facility Location of Tourism Industry in Plain Region by Utilizing GIS," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, April.
    15. P. Daniel Wright & Matthew J. Liberatore & Robert L. Nydick, 2006. "A Survey of Operations Research Models and Applications in Homeland Security," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 36(6), pages 514-529, December.
    16. Yi, Wei & Ozdamar, Linet, 2007. "A dynamic logistics coordination model for evacuation and support in disaster response activities," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 179(3), pages 1177-1193, June.
    17. Mark S. Daskin, 2008. "What you should know about location modeling," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(4), pages 283-294, June.
    18. Hamid Mousavi & Soroush Avakh Darestani & Parham Azimi, 2021. "An artificial neural network based mathematical model for a stochastic health care facility location problem," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 499-514, September.
    19. Geroliminis, Nikolas & Karlaftis, Matthew G. & Skabardonis, Alexander, 2009. "A spatial queuing model for the emergency vehicle districting and location problem," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 798-811, August.
    20. Jiwon Baik & Alan T. Murray, 2022. "Locating a facility to simultaneously address access and coverage goals," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(5), pages 1199-1217, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:43:y:2013:i:2:p:142-151. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.