A Decision System for Routing Problems and Rescheduling Issues Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Abstract

In recent years, consumers have come to expect faster and better delivery services. Logistics companies, therefore, must implement innovative technologies or services in their logistics processes. It is critical to adopt unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in last mile delivery and urban logistics. The service provider applies the characteristics of UAVs to complete more requests, benefiting more revenue. However, it may not be a satisfactory solution, because the customers will be dissatisfied if the actual delivery time does not align with their expectations. This study constructs a revenue maximization model subject to time windows and customer satisfaction. Instead of addressing the traveling salesmen problem, this model takes new customer requests during the delivery process into account. We solved the problem using a genetic algorithm. The results show: (1) the model found an approximate and effective solution in the real-time delivery environment; (2) customer satisfaction is inversely proportional to the total delivery distance; (3) regarding the result of the sensitivity analysis of this study, investment in UAV has no influence on total profit and customer satisfaction. Moreover, the customer is a key factor in the logistics decision-making platform, not the provider’s investment in UAVs.