The Periodical Vehicle Routing Problem: Research Overview and Practical Application to a South German Fast Food Restaurant

Diploma Thesis from the year 2005 in the subject Business economics - General, grade: 1,3, University of Augsburg, language: English, abstract: In the middle of May 1997 Gerd Raupeter, CEO of McDonald's Deutschland Inc. (Mc Donald's Germany Inc.), had to announce that some restaurants were sold out of shrimps1. The keen customer's demand for this kind of seafood already exceeded the expected forecasts one week after starting the ongoing 'Fisch-Wochen' (fish-weeks) mission. As these circumstances highlighted an accurate product choice for the fast food corporation Mr. Raupeter has nevertheless been pleased about it. Otherwise, such an awkward situation could be prevented by developing a demand-driven scheduling for each restaurant in the future. The Periodic(al) Vehicle Routing Problem (PVRP) seems to be a tailor-made solution for the reason that exact planning has to be done and '...delivery routes must be constructed over a period of time (for example, multiple days).' Observations and analyzes in the literature in most of the industries deal with a constant demand for goods and with only one good. Moreover the one-of-a-kind client prevails. But for the application of the PVRP to the gastronomy there are some exceptions to be considered. As this paper presents a solution approach of the delivery problem for the fast-food industry in South Germany, there are products to be transported consisting of diverse components. Although there are nearly identical opening hours, the eating places - the clientele to be delivered - due to their irregular demand for food and beverages are varying from the unique purchaser. Another singularity lies in the conformity of the foodstuff which is reflected in the comparability of each restaurant. Therefore the enduring solution approach will be done in a sample of some fast food restaurants. This paper herein is organized as follows. In the second and third chapter, various theories that could lead depots how to organize its delivery are reviewed, with an emphasis on the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) as well as the PVRP.