Title: An airfreight forwarder's shipment planning: simultaneous decisions on job, route and agent selection

Authors: Yulai Wan, Wai Hung Wong, Lawrence C. Leung, Yer Van Hui

Addresses: Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, 2053 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada. ' Department of Decision Sciences and Managerial Economics, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong. ' Department of Decision Sciences and Managerial Economics, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong. ' Department of Management Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Abstract: Nowadays, because of the emergence of many online logistics platforms – some of which function as virtual marketplaces – airfreight forwarders are facing an increasing number of shipment requests and many choices of collaborating agents. They are also expected to handle a greater variety of shipments from an increasing number of origins and to an increasing number of destinations. In this paper, we address the three inter-related decisions of job selection, route selection and agent selection in the design of a shipment plan. We formulate this problem as a mixed 0-1 LP, with the objective of maximising profit. Using a numerical example, we analyse the effects of job and route selection and provide insights into various aspects of shipment planning.

Keywords: shipment planning; simultaneous decision making; job selection; route selection; agent selection; airfreight forwarders; third-party logistics; 3PL service providers.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTL.2010.033508

International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics, 2010 Vol.2 No.3, pp.249 - 266

Published online: 02 Jun 2010 *

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