Solution approaches for Vehicle Routing Problems of a set of small food shops in a local area of Torino

This dissertation is the result of a collaboration with LINKS Foundation that aims to optimise the delivery service of a set of small food shops in a specific area of Torino. Each one of these businesses is currently managing a number of low volume deliveries on its own. I started my research by understanding the issues that these shops face everyday with the current system of delivery: owning a vehicle dedicated to deliveries results in costs that are too high, given the low quantity of orders for each store. As many micro and small enterprises in the food sector are facing the competition of bigger companies in terms of infrastructure costs, the reorganisation of the goods’ distribution chain in a collaborative way (shared vehicles, spaces, human resources, processes, data and information) can lead to an improvement of the current situation. After having understood the needs of these businesses, I developed an algorithm with Python, able to calculate the routes of vehicles starting from a shared depot, merging the routes of different shops in order to allow a more efficient delivery service. I simulated 1350 scenarios with different properties which allowed me to gain insights about the advantages of a shared system of delivery services, such as the reduction of transportation costs and lower number of vehicles used, helping small businesses with an alternative proposition to the current situation. The advantages of such a system also apply to the final customers, that would benefit from a more efficient infrastructure, lower delivery costs, the possibility to access a digital ordering platform. Finally, I noticed how this kind of organisation would result in a much lower number of vehicles on the streets, contributing to a decreased level of pollution for the city of Torino.