Title: Distribution in the large-scale retail trade industry: requirements for vehicle routing problems

Authors: Sebastiano Di Luozzo; Michela Vincenzi; Massimiliano M. Schiraldi

Addresses: Department of Enterprise Engineering, 'Tor Vergata' University of Rome, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Roma, Italy ' Department of Enterprise Engineering, 'Tor Vergata' University of Rome, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Roma, Italy ' Department of Enterprise Engineering, 'Tor Vergata' University of Rome, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Roma, Italy

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to outline and establish the characteristics and requirements of vehicle routing problem (VRP) in the large-scale retail trade (LSRT) industry. Characteristics and operational constraints of the VRP for the LSRT industry are described after analysing some variants of the state-of-the-art models in the present literature. Successively, a comprehensive definition for this specific class of problems is provided, along with taxonomy and a new VRP formulation. The research reveals that state-of-the-art VRP models often fail to thoroughly describe real-world LSRT instances, leading to seldomly applicable models. For this reason, the paper provides guidance to design and apply a model for solving real-world transportation problems in the LSRT industry. Hence, our paper establishes requirements and criteria for obtaining a VRP applicable to real-world instances of the LSRT industry.

Keywords: distribution; logistics; routing; nonlinear programming; retailing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLSM.2024.135889

International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 2024 Vol.47 No.1, pp.18 - 50

Received: 14 Nov 2021
Accepted: 04 May 2022
Published online: 09 Jan 2024 *

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