Student: Sungmin Sohn
Supervisor: Ali Diabat
The goal of this research project is to further study the incorporation of truck-drone delivery into the inventory-routing problem (IRP). The model formulated and discussed in the referenced paper will be coded in GAMS. The referenced paper presents a mixed linear integer programming formulation for the IRP with the drone (IRP-D).
To write a GAMS code for further study of the concept, a comprehensive study of the concept and paper would be essential. Therefore, the formulation of the model and the derived valid inequalities are going to be intensively studied.
The written GAMS code will then be used to solve a few small instances of the model to check if the codes are written correctly and able to solve the problems. A few small case studies will also be studied. Potentially extending these case studies, the connections will be built to connect to the practical extensions for the formulated model of the referenced paper. Studying the practical extensions is particularly important in this research project as it is a necessary step to the real implementation of the concept and the method into the real-world delivery operation systems.
As an outcome of the research project, a complete GAMS code that could solve the IRP-D is expected to be fully written and small case studies that could confirm the validity of the GAMS code will be studied. Ultimately, based on the code and case studies, practical extensions for the model discussed in the referenced paper will further be investigated.