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Fleet configuration subject to stochastic demand: an application in the distribution of liquefied petroleum gas

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  • M Singer

    (Escuela de Administración, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)

  • P Donoso

    (Escuela de Administración, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)

  • S Jara

    (Escuela de Administración, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)

Abstract

We study the problem of configuring a fleet, in which vehicles receive information on-line about the demand that they should fulfil while they are on the road. In each district it must be decided the number of vehicles and their capacity. The objective function is to minimise the operational cost subject to constraints for the minimum delivery capacity, the maximum vehicle size and the average waiting time for customers. The last constraint is modelled as a queuing system that is adjusted according to the simulation of the delivery process of a Chilean company that distributes liquefied petroleum gas in portable cylinders. We provide the analytical form of all the components of the model, so it can be solved using a standard non-linear programming package. We show that the fleet may increase its sales by 3% and reduce the waiting time of customers 10% by allowing a set of vehicles to share the buffer of orders rather than having vehicles to exclusively serve smaller sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • M Singer & P Donoso & S Jara, 2002. "Fleet configuration subject to stochastic demand: an application in the distribution of liquefied petroleum gas," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 53(9), pages 961-971, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jorsoc:v:53:y:2002:i:9:d:10.1057_palgrave.jors.2601376
    DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.jors.2601376
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Singer, Marcos & Donoso, Patricio, 2011. "Contracting contractors," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 338-343, March.
    2. Nicola Secomandi & François Margot, 2009. "Reoptimization Approaches for the Vehicle-Routing Problem with Stochastic Demands," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(1), pages 214-230, February.
    3. Marcos Singer & Patricio Donoso & Natalia Jadue, 2004. "Evaluacion De Las Oportunidades De Mejoramiento De La Logistica Directa De Emergencia," Abante, Escuela de Administracion. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 7(2), pages 179-209.
    4. Marcos Singer & Patricio Donoso & José Noguer, 2005. "Optimal Planning of a Multi-Station System with Sojourn Time Constraints," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 138(1), pages 203-222, September.
    5. Arslan, Ayşe N. & Papageorgiou, Dimitri J., 2017. "Bulk ship fleet renewal and deployment under uncertainty: A multi-stage stochastic programming approach," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 69-96.
    6. Florio, Alexandre M. & Gendreau, Michel & Hartl, Richard F. & Minner, Stefan & Vidal, Thibaut, 2023. "Recent advances in vehicle routing with stochastic demands: Bayesian learning for correlated demands and elementary branch-price-and-cut," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 306(3), pages 1081-1093.
    7. Francisco Brahm & Jorge Tarzijan & Marcos Singer, 2017. "The Impact of Frictions in Routine Execution on Economies of Scope," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(10), pages 2121-2142, October.
    8. Marcos Singer & Patricio Donoso & Alan Scheller-Wolf, 2008. "Una Introducción A La Teoría De Colas Aplicada A La Gestión De Servicios," Abante, Escuela de Administracion. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 11(2), pages 93-120.
    9. Marcos Singer & Patricio Donoso & Garo Konstantinidis, 2009. "Who wants to break the hockey-stick sales pattern in the supply chain?," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 131-147, July.
    10. Marcos Singer & Patricio Donoso & Sven Widdel, 2007. "¿Premian Las Tarifas El Desempeño Del Transportista?," Abante, Escuela de Administracion. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 10(1), pages 21-55.

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