Distribution Route Planning for Cold Chain Items under Variable Demand

Abstract

This paper discussed the planning and selection of an optimization model for distribution routing of cold chain items with variable customer demand. We established a distribution model of cold chain items to minimize the total distribution cost based on the model of vehicle routing problem (VRP) with time window. Distribution routing was then optimized by a saving algorithm. Finally, we compared the optimal routes planned by the stochastic distribution model (considering demand variation of customers) and the deterministic distribution model (based on a given demand expected value) by using a numerical example. Results show that (1) planning by using the stochastic model is superior to planning by using the deterministic model when demands fluctuate wildly and vice versa; (2) the total distribution costs obtained by the two models increase with the increase of the degree of demand change. Therefore, we proposed several suggestions to reduce the demand uncertainty of customers.