Routing optimization: GEFCO Portugal

• Autor(a) principal: Sousa, Gonçalo Nuno Neves Gonçalves Maldonado
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/17901
• topic: Routing optimization; Supply chain; Logistics; Vehicle routing problem; Otimização; Cadeia de abastecimento; Logística; Distribuição; Trabalho de projeto

Transport is considered a crucial area of a Supply Chain since it is responsible for bonding all the agents that are part of it. To obtain maximum profit in distribution, it is necessary to optimize 3 variables which are referred as the vertices of the Logistics Triangle: Cost, Time and Quality, which means that products must arrive at the final customer at the right time, with the minimum cost for the company and with the maximum quality for the customers. Routing optimization is one of the most complex areas to apply since there are a lot of variables that cannot be measured and controlled, depending on each scenario. This project was developed to study how could this company reach the maximum quality of the service while influenced by external and internal factors which influence directly the distribution of orders placed by customers, along with restrictions associated to each scenario. Therefore, the main objective is to optimize several routes of distribution that daily supply the customers of the company. This project is inserted in the Vehicle Routing Problems (VRP) and started by, firstly, understand the business of the company and then collecting various types of data which were treated and analysed by using Microsoft Excel and its functionalities, such as with formulas and Pivot Tables. Solutions and scenarios were analysed and presented using an Excel Spreadsheet (VRP Spreadsheet).