Browsing by Author "Kaplan, Marcella Mina"

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    Enhancing Delivery of Operations by Optimizing the Omni-Channel Supply Chain through Delivery as a Service
    Kaplan, Marcella Mina (Virginia Tech, 2021-05-24)
    The need for delivery grew significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic because people avoided activities in public to limit the spread of the virus. The purpose of this research was to evaluate how the pandemic influenced many individual's delivery preferences through the administration of a stated preference survey targeted at residents in the New River Valley, Virginia. Conclusions revealed from the survey show that people want more efficient and accessible delivery services. A new delivery ecosystem called Delivery as a Service (DaaS) was developed using the input from the survey, existing service-based models being widely implemented in many industries, and emerging technologies. This thesis details a framework for DaaS derived by defining major actors, characteristics, and a method to measure the effectiveness of a DaaS system. This comprehensive definition of integrated delivery services illustrates areas for future research to further optimize the DaaS system. DaaS has the potential to significantly change the current delivery ecosystem through increased delivery accessibility and efficiency. Goods can be brought to users at a faster rate and on a larger scale. Autonomous vehicle and drone delivery technologies can significantly reduce the cost while correspondingly reducing the time of delivery. DaaS is a concept that is needed for people to thrive in modern times and brings the opportunity to provide added benefits to even rural areas.
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    Implications of Advanced Technologies on Rural Delivery
    Kaplan, Marcella Mina (Virginia Tech, 2024-05-24)
    This dissertation integrates the strengths of individual emergent delivery technologies with package characteristics, and rural community needs to meet the demand for equitable, accessible, and inclusive rural delivery that is also cost-effective. To find ways to meet the package delivery service needs in rural areas and to fill research gaps in rural package delivery modeling, this study introduced a novel model known as the Parallel Scheduling Vehicle Routing Problem (PSVRP) in an endeavor to revolutionize package delivery by enhancing its efficiency, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness. The PSVRP represents a state-of-the-art approach to vehicle routing problems, incorporating a diversified fleet of innovative delivery modes. The multi-modal fleet of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems works in unison to minimize operational costs in various settings. A solution methodology that implemented the Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS) algorithm was designed to solve the PSVRP in this research to produce optimal or near-optimal solutions. A variety of scenarios in a rural setting that include different quantities of customers to deliver to and different package weights are tested to evaluate if a multi-modal fleet of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems can provide cost-effective, low emissions, and efficient rural delivery services from local stores. Different fleet combinations are compared to demonstrate the best combined fleet for rural package delivery. It was found that implementation of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems does decrease rural package delivery cost, but it does not yet decrease cost enough for the return on investment to be high enough for industry to implement the technology. Additionally, it was found that electric technologies do significantly decrease emissions of package delivery in rural areas. However, without a carbon tax or regulation mandating reduced carbon emissions, it is unlikely that the delivery industry will quickly embrace these new delivery modes. This dissertation not only advances academic understanding and practical applications in vehicle routing problems but also contributes to social equity by researching methods to improve delivery services in underserved rural communities. The PSVRP model could benefit transportation professionals considering technology-enabled rural delivery, developing rural delivery plans, looking for cost-effective rural delivery solutions, implementing a heterogeneous fleet to optimize rural delivery, or planning to reduce rural delivery emissions. It is anticipated that these innovations will spur further research and investment into rural delivery optimization, fostering a more inclusive and accessible package delivery service landscape.