A Model for Vehicle Routing Problem under Returns and Emission Consideration in B2C E-Commerce Logistics

Year 2025, Issue: PRODUCTIVITY FOR LOGISTICS, 63 - 76, 03.02.2025

Sedat Belbağ

https://doi.org/10.51551/verimlilik.1533127

Abstract

Purpose: With the widespread use of the Internet, electronic commerce allows customers to purchase products from the virtual stores of businesses instead of physical stores. This study addressed a mixed-integer linear programming model for a vehicle routing problem under returns and emission considerations in B2C e-commerce logistics.
Methodology: This study proposes a mathematical model to solve a variant of the vehicle routing problem. The objective is to minimize the fuel consumption cost, penalty cost for unmet demand of returned items, and fixed cost for operating a vehicle. A clustering-based solution algorithm has been introduced to solve large-sized instances within reasonable solution times.
Findings: The numerical analysis for the base case shows that the suggested model can assist decision-makers in coordinating forward distribution and reverse collection decisions within the context of sustainable e-commerce logistics. The result of the adjusted model for minimizing emission shows that a reduction of nearly 17% in total emission amount can be achieved, however, the adjusted model postpones all demand for the collection of returned items. Furthermore, the cluster-based solution approach causes a considerable decrease in solution time while providing promising solutions.
Originality: This study represents a contribution to the existing literature on the subject by considering: i) emission to determine effects on the vehicle routing problem, ii) the postponement of the collection of returned items due to the limited delivery time, iii) proposing the clustering-based solution approach to tackle with larger-sized problems.

Keywords

E-Commerce Logistics, Vehicle Routing Problem, Product Returns, Emission

B2C E-Ticaret Lojistiğinde Geri Dönmüş Ürün ve Emisyonun Dikkate Alındığı Araç Rotalama Problemine İlişkin Bir Model

Abstract

Amaç: Elektronik ticaret internet kullanımının yaygınlaşması ile birlikte müşterilerin ürünleri fiziksel mağazalar yerine işletmelerin sanal mağazalarından satın almasına olanak sağlamaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, B2C e-ticaret lojistiğinde iade ve emisyon hususları altında bir araç rotalama problemi için bir karma tamsayılı doğrusal programlama modeli önermektir.
Yöntem: Bu çalışma, araç rotalama probleminin bir varyantını çözmek için bir matematiksel model önermektedir. Modelin amacı, yakıt tüketim maliyetini, iade edilen ürünlerin karşılanmayan talebi için ceza maliyetini ve bir aracın işletilmesi için sabit maliyeti en aza indirmektir. Büyük boyutlu örnekleri makul çözüm süreleri içinde çözmek için kümeleme tabanlı bir çözüm algoritması önerilmektedir.
Bulgular: Örnek olay analizi için yapılan sayısal analiz, önerilen modelin sürdürülebilir e-ticaret lojistiği bağlamında ileri yönlü dağıtım ve iade toplama kararlarının koordine edilmesinde karar vericilere yardımcı olabileceğini göstermektedir. Emisyonu en aza indirmeye yönelik düzenlenmiş modelin sonucu, toplam emisyon miktarında yaklaşık %17'lik bir azalma sağlanabileceğini göstermektedir, ancak düzenlenmiş model iade edilen ürünlerin toplanması için olan tüm talebi ertelemektedir. Ayrıca, küme tabanlı çözüm yaklaşımı umut verici çözümler sunarken çözüm süresinde önemli bir azalmaya neden olmaktadır.
Özgünlük: Bu çalışma, i) emisyonun araç rotalama problemi üzerindeki etkileri belirlenmesini, ii) sınırlı teslimat süresi nedeniyle iade edilen ürünlerin toplanmasının ertelenmesini, iii) daha büyük boyutlu problemlerle başa çıkmak için kümeleme tabanlı çözüm yaklaşımını önererek konuyla ilgili mevcut literatüre bir katkı sunmaktadır.

Keywords

E-Ticaret Lojistiği, Araç Rotalama Problemi, Geri Dönmüş Ürün, Emisyon

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