An airfreight forwarder's shipment planning: simultaneous decisions on job, route and agent selection. (4th June 2010)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wan, Yulai; Wong, Wai Hung; Leung, Lawrence C.; Hui, Yer Van
• Is Part Of: International journal of shipping and transport logistics. Volume 2:Number 3(2010)
• Page Start: 249
• Page End: 266
• Publication Date: 2010-06-04
• Subjects: shipment planning -- simultaneous decision making -- job selection -- route selection -- agent selection -- airfreight forwarders -- third-party logistics -- 3PL service providers; Shipping -- Periodicals; Shipping -- Statistics; Logistics -- Periodicals; 387.5
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1756-6517

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.