Description
György KOVÁCS
UNIVERSITY OF MISKOLC, DEPARTMENT OF MATERIALS HANDLING AND LOGISTICS , HUNGARY
© copyright FACULTY of ENGINEERING ? HUNEDOARA, ROMANIA 41
1.
György KOVÁCS
OPTIMIZATION OF INTERNATIONAL ROAD TRANSPORT ACTIVITY
1.
UNIVERSITY OF MISKOLC, DEPARTMENT OF MATERIALS HANDLING AND LOGISTICS , HUNGARY
ABSTRACT: Enterprise Requirement Planning (ERP) softwares have many advantageous and disadvantageous properties.
Most important advantage is that the software includes much information relating to the activity of the company. But
disadvantage is that not easy to fit the standardized nonflexible software to the individual requirements and processes of
the users and some special evaluations can not be prepared automatically. The paper introduces the conception of software
to be developed for a company in frame of a research project. This software has two modules, the first is an evaluation
module, and the second is a planning module. The planning module support the organization and optimization of transport
loops which can result higher profit and lower operation costs for the company, lower specific transport cost for the
customers and lower air pollution.
KEYWORDS: Enterprise Requirement Planning (ERP) softwares, planning & optimisation of transport
INTRODUCTION
Enterprise Requirement Planning (ERP) softwares
have many advantageous and disadvantageous
properties. Most important advantage is that the
software includes much information relating to the
activity of the company. But disadvantage is that not
easy to fit the standardized nonflexible software to
the individual requirements and processes of the users
and some special evaluations can not be prepared
automatically.
The aim of our research?development project is to
develop a software module to provide and evaluate
logistics indicators relating to the transport activity
automatically and develop a transport planning
software. Indicators can be useful for both of general
management and route planners, the planning
software results organization of cost effective
transport loops.
At first we defined the structure of logistics indicators
which can be provided based on available historical
database and after it we make suggestions for
improvement of actual database which required to
the planning and optimisation of transport paths
(Figure 1).
Figure 1. Phases of development
STRUCTURE OF INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT LOOPS
The aim of transport loop planning are a more
efficient transport activity, reduction of total amount
of emission and the realization of higher profit, which
require the integration of more transport tasks into
one transport loop as it can be seen in figure 2.
Figure 2. Structure of transport loops
It means that the vehicle starts from the parking place
of the company to the first dispatch station where the
products to be transported are loading in. After it the
vehicle goes to the first discharge station where the
products to be transported are loading out and goes
to the next dispatch station. The number of dispatch
and discharge stations can be n and a discharge
station can be a dispatch station simultaneously. After
the last discharge station the vehicle goes back to the
parking place of the company. It is possible that only a
part of the total transported load of a vehicle is
loading in or loading out at some stations.
EFFECT OF ROAD TRANSPORT ACTIVITY ON ENVIRONMENT
International research report of DHL showed that the
30% of camions after the last discharge station on the
back way are going without useful load (empty
vehicles). It results approximately 33,5 milliard euro
additional fuel cost and 20?30 tons of CO
2
emission per
year.
ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – Bulletin of Engineering
2012. Fascicule 1 [January–March] 42
Logistics has a significant role in environmental
protection. Because of the transport cost represents
the 30 % of the total supply chain cost, all of
forwarding companies attempt to optimize their
transport activities. Optimization means increase of
utilization of transport loops, reduction of amount of
burnt fuel and reduction of vehicles emission.
Possibilities of reduction of emission of international
road transport activities are the followings:
modernization of vehicle fleet, usage of low
emission engines or hybrid powered vehicles,
training of drivers which can improve driving
techniques,
application of multimodal transport mode which is
the combination of road?, rail?, water? and air
transportation,
optimization of transport tasks:
integration of more transport tasks into one
transport loop,
elimination of transport ways without useful
load (empty vehicles),
maximization of vehicle capacity during the
transport way (the adequate vehicle size is
used),
selection of the optimal transport route (taking
into consideration the topography (across
flatland, downy or mountain)).
TOTAL PRIME COST OF A TRANSPORT LOOP
At first we have to define the total prime cost of a
transport loop to find the possibilities of cost
reduction. It is suggested to define the sections of the
total loop. A section is a way between a dispatch
station and a discharge station. The cost components
of the sections are different due to the different
volume of transported goods, fuel consumption
depending on topography, etc.
Total prime cost of the ?
th
transport loop ( )
T
K
?
can
be calculated:
T L UL W A D M
K K K K K K K
? ? ? ? ? ? ?
= + + + + + (1)
where:
L
K
?
? cost of transport way with useful load (loaded);
UL
K
?
? cost of transport way without useful load
(unloaded);
W
K
?
? cost of waiting time;
A
K
?
? total additional costs (fee of motorway usage,
parking fee, …);
D
K
?
? wage cost of drivers;
M
K
?
? maintenance cost of own vehicles;
? ? identifier of the loop.
Cost of transport way with useful load
The cost of transport sections with useful load can be
calculated:
L L L
K k L
? ? ?
= ? [euro] (2)
where:
L
k
?
: specific cost of way with useful load in case of
?
th
transport loop
?
?
?
?
?
?
km
euro
,
L
L
?
: length of way with useful load in case of ?
th
transport loop [km].
1 2 3 0 L L L L L
k k
? ? ? ?
?
? ? ? = ? ? ?
?
?
?
?
?
?
km
euro
(3)
where:
0 L
k
?
: specific cost of vehicle of ?
th
transport loop (in
case of an empty vehicle)
0
100
R
L fR
f
k k
?
=
?
?
?
?
?
?
km
euro
(4)
where:
R
f : specific fuel consumption
litre
km
? ?
? ?
? ?
fR
k : cost of fuel
euro
litre
? ?
? ?
? ?
1 L
?
? : correction factor for fuel consumption
depending on features of the ground
2 L
?
? : correction factor for different fuel price of
different countries
3 L
?
? : correction factor for different loading condition
(weight of useful load)
Cost of transport way without useful load
The cost of transport sections without useful load can
be calculated:
UL UL UL
K k L
? ? ?
= ? [euro] (5)
where:
UL
L
?
: length of way without useful load in case of
?
th
transport loop [km].
UL
k
?
: specific cost of way without useful load
?
?
?
?
?
?
km
euro
,
1 2 0 UL UL UL UL
k k
? ? ?
?
? ? = ? ?
?
?
?
?
?
?
km
euro
(6)
where:
0 UL
k
?
: specific cost of vehicle of ?
th
transport loop (in
case of an empty vehicle)
0
100
Ü
UL fÜ
f
k k
?
=
(7)
ü
f : specific fuel consumption
litre
km
? ?
? ?
? ?
fü
k : cost of fuel
euro
litre
? ?
? ?
? ?
1 UL
?
? : correction factor for fuel consumption
depending on features of the ground
e.g. 1 ? normal (flatland),
1,3 ? hard (mountain),
ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – Bulletin of Engineering
2012. Fascicule 1 [January–March]
43
2 UL
?
? : correction factor for different fuel prices of
different countries
Cost of waiting time
The cost of waiting time during the transport way can
be calculated as the sum of the following components:
( )
W RA WA HA PA SA W
K T T T T T k
? ? ? ? ? ? ?
= + + + + ? [euro](8)
where:
RA
T
?
: time consumption of loading in and loading
out,
[ ] hour
WA
T
?
: waiting for loading in and loading out activity,
[ ] hour
,
HA
T
?
: waiting time at the frontier station,
[ ] hour
,
PA
T
?
: waiting time due to required resting,
[ ] hour
,
SA
T
?
: waiting time due to camion stop,
[ ] hour
W
k
?
: specific cost of waiting,
euro
hour
? ?
? ?
? ?
.
Additional costs
Total additional cost is the sum of the motorway fee
(
AM
K
?
) and parking fee (
AP
K
?
):
A AM AP
K K K
? ? ?
= + [euro] (9)
motorway fee: fee of motorway sections used by
vehicles
AM AM AM
K k m
? ? ?
?
? = ? ? [euro] (10)
where:
AM
k
?
average fee of a motorway section
sec
euro
tion
? ?
? ?
? ?
m
?
number of sections of the loops
AM
?
? correction factor relating to different cost of
different countries
parking fee: fee of parking times in the loops
AP P P Pt Pd T
K t k
? ? ? ? ?
?
? ? ? = ? ? ? ? [euro] (11)
where:
P
t
?
average parking time of a loop
[ ] hour
P
k
?
average parking fee of a loop
euro
hour
? ?
? ?
? ?
Pt
?
? correction factor for the average parking time
Pd
?
? correction factor for the average parking cost
T
?
? correction factor depends on the category of
vehicles (light track, camion, etc.)
Average wage cost of drivers
Average wage cost of drivers can be calculated with:
D D
K T b
?
? ? ?
? = ? ? [euro] (12)
where:
T
?
is the time consumption of a transport loop
[hour],
b
?
is the average wage cost of a driver
euro
hour
? ?
? ?
? ?
,
D
?
? is a correction factor for the average wage cost of
a driver.
Maintenance cost of the vehicles
Maintenance cost of own vehicles include the costs
which are independent on usage of vehicles, it means
that these costs are realized when the vehicles are not
on way (e.g.: leasing, maintenance, assurance ...).
Maintenance cost of a transport loop:
M M M
K T k
?
? ? ?
? = ? ? [euro] (13)
where:
T
?
is the time consumption of achievement of a loop
[ ] day ,
M
k
?
is the specific maintenance cost of vehicles
(leasing, maintenance, assurance, ...)
euro
day
? ?
? ?
? ?
,
M
?
? is a correction factor for maintenance cost of
different vehicles.
During the route planning optimization the total
prime cost should be minimized.
The main aim of our software to be developed is the
optimization of transport tasks.
Well organized transport loops result higher profit
and lower operation costs for the company, lower
specific transport cost for the customers and lower air
pollution.
ROUTE PLANNING METHOD
Actually at the forwarding company the route
planning is completed by planners without any
optimisation. There is a demand for application of an
efficient optimisation algorithm during the planning
process.
The software module to be developed will be used
during the long and short term route planning and
generation of master? and fine scheduling.
Figure 3. Time horizons of scheduling
Aims of master? and fine scheduling are the scheduling
of forwarding activity and allocation of vehicles to
destinations and tasks. Time interval of master
scheduling is 1?4 weeks, 1?2 days in case of fine
scheduling.
This software module can support the activity and
decision making of general management and planners.
Figure 4 shows the generation algorithm of transport
plans.
ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – Bulletin of Engineering
2012. Fascicule 1 [January–March] 44
Figure 4. Process of generation of transport plans
Steps of master scheduling are the followings:
a. Input data are the followings:
deadline for transport tasks,
characteristics of products to be transported,
volume,
special requirements,
characteristics of transport vehicles,
available the required vehicle or not,
capacity demand,
fuel consumption,
data relating to drivers of vehicles.
b. Demand can be fulfilled till the deadline? If can not
be fulfilled the next deadline should be defined till
the transport task can be completed.
c. Task can be fulfilled by own vehicle or by rented
vehicle. If the task can not be fulfilled by own
vehicle or by rented vehicle offer for the next
deadline when it can be fulfilled.
d. What is the capacity demand? Camion or light
truck is required?
e. Objective functions, constraints, priorities are
applied for the optimisation.
Possible objective functions of a multi?objective
optimisation:
total prime cost of transportation should be
minimal,
lead times should be minimal (time consumption of
transport activity, loading in and out, waiting time,
….).
Constraints:
Utilization of resources should be maximised:
vehicles,
human resources.
Customer demand satisfaction should be
maximised.
Constraints for vehicles:
Loading capacity (camion or light track).
Constraints for products.
Priorities:
for vehicles:
own or rented,
preferred one of own vehicles.
for customers:
regular customers,
new customers.
for transport loops:
task arrived earlier has priority.
for products.
f. Output data are the followings:
Transport demand can be fulfilled?
Transport demand can be fulfilled by own or
rented vehicle?
Which kind of vehicle is suggested to
complete the transportation?
Which transport tasks can be integrated
together to maximize utilization?
Which will be the path of the transport loop?
What is the deadline for achievement of the
transportation?
What is the cost of the transport task?
ADVANTAGES PROVIDED BY THE APPLICATION OF SOFTWARE
MODULES
Evaluation of logistics indicators relating to transport
activity can provide useful information because the
analysis of historic data provides a real view of the
company activity. This information can be useful for
decision making of the general management, and
during the daily routine (planning on short and long
time interval) on operative level.
Transport loop planning based on optimisation
provides automatic / semi?automatic plans for short
and long time intervals and optimal utilization of
resources (human and vehicle). Application of this
software module results planning of low cost
transport loops so a higher profit can be realized at
the company. The lower transport cost provides lower
price for the customer, which results higher
satisfaction of customers.
The amount of used fuel is globally can be decreased,
which results lower air pollution.
The R+D project is under elaboration, after the
finalization of optimization algorithm software
modules will be developed.
ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – Bulletin of Engineering
2012. Fascicule 1 [January–March]
45
SUMMARY / CONCLUSIONS
The paper introduces the conception of software to
be developed for a company in frame of a research
project.
This software has two modules, the first is an
evaluation module, and the second is a planning
module.
The planning module support the organization and
optimization of transport loops which can result
higher profit and lower operation costs for the
company, lower specific transport cost for the
customers and lower air pollution.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This research was carried out as part of the TAMOP?4.2.1.B?
10/2/KONV?2010?0001 project with support by the European
Union, co?financed by the European Social Fund.
REFERENCES
[1.] R+D report completed for a Hungarian forwarding
company, University of Miskolc, Department of
Materials Handling and Logistics, 2011.
[2.] CSELÉNYI, J.; ILLÉS, B.: Logisztikai rendszerek I. ?
Miskolci Egyetemi Kiadó, 2004.
[3.] SZEGEDI, Z., PREZENSZKI, J.: Logisztika?menedzsment
? Kossuth Kiadó, 2003.,
[4.] CSELÉNYI, J.; ILLÉS, B. szerkeszt?k: Anyagáramlási
rendszerek tervezése és irányítása I., Miskolci
Egyetemi Kiadó, 2006.
ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – BULLETIN of ENGINEERING
ISSN: 2067?3809 [CD?Rom, online]
copyright © UNIVERSITY POLITEHNICA TIMISOARA,
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING HUNEDOARA,
5, REVOLUTIEI, 331128, HUNEDOARA, ROMANIA
http://acta.fih.upt.ro
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doc_425836032.pdf
György KOVÁCS
UNIVERSITY OF MISKOLC, DEPARTMENT OF MATERIALS HANDLING AND LOGISTICS , HUNGARY
© copyright FACULTY of ENGINEERING ? HUNEDOARA, ROMANIA 41
1.
György KOVÁCS
OPTIMIZATION OF INTERNATIONAL ROAD TRANSPORT ACTIVITY
1.
UNIVERSITY OF MISKOLC, DEPARTMENT OF MATERIALS HANDLING AND LOGISTICS , HUNGARY
ABSTRACT: Enterprise Requirement Planning (ERP) softwares have many advantageous and disadvantageous properties.
Most important advantage is that the software includes much information relating to the activity of the company. But
disadvantage is that not easy to fit the standardized nonflexible software to the individual requirements and processes of
the users and some special evaluations can not be prepared automatically. The paper introduces the conception of software
to be developed for a company in frame of a research project. This software has two modules, the first is an evaluation
module, and the second is a planning module. The planning module support the organization and optimization of transport
loops which can result higher profit and lower operation costs for the company, lower specific transport cost for the
customers and lower air pollution.
KEYWORDS: Enterprise Requirement Planning (ERP) softwares, planning & optimisation of transport
INTRODUCTION
Enterprise Requirement Planning (ERP) softwares
have many advantageous and disadvantageous
properties. Most important advantage is that the
software includes much information relating to the
activity of the company. But disadvantage is that not
easy to fit the standardized nonflexible software to
the individual requirements and processes of the users
and some special evaluations can not be prepared
automatically.
The aim of our research?development project is to
develop a software module to provide and evaluate
logistics indicators relating to the transport activity
automatically and develop a transport planning
software. Indicators can be useful for both of general
management and route planners, the planning
software results organization of cost effective
transport loops.
At first we defined the structure of logistics indicators
which can be provided based on available historical
database and after it we make suggestions for
improvement of actual database which required to
the planning and optimisation of transport paths
(Figure 1).
Figure 1. Phases of development
STRUCTURE OF INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT LOOPS
The aim of transport loop planning are a more
efficient transport activity, reduction of total amount
of emission and the realization of higher profit, which
require the integration of more transport tasks into
one transport loop as it can be seen in figure 2.
Figure 2. Structure of transport loops
It means that the vehicle starts from the parking place
of the company to the first dispatch station where the
products to be transported are loading in. After it the
vehicle goes to the first discharge station where the
products to be transported are loading out and goes
to the next dispatch station. The number of dispatch
and discharge stations can be n and a discharge
station can be a dispatch station simultaneously. After
the last discharge station the vehicle goes back to the
parking place of the company. It is possible that only a
part of the total transported load of a vehicle is
loading in or loading out at some stations.
EFFECT OF ROAD TRANSPORT ACTIVITY ON ENVIRONMENT
International research report of DHL showed that the
30% of camions after the last discharge station on the
back way are going without useful load (empty
vehicles). It results approximately 33,5 milliard euro
additional fuel cost and 20?30 tons of CO
2
emission per
year.
ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – Bulletin of Engineering
2012. Fascicule 1 [January–March] 42
Logistics has a significant role in environmental
protection. Because of the transport cost represents
the 30 % of the total supply chain cost, all of
forwarding companies attempt to optimize their
transport activities. Optimization means increase of
utilization of transport loops, reduction of amount of
burnt fuel and reduction of vehicles emission.
Possibilities of reduction of emission of international
road transport activities are the followings:
modernization of vehicle fleet, usage of low
emission engines or hybrid powered vehicles,
training of drivers which can improve driving
techniques,
application of multimodal transport mode which is
the combination of road?, rail?, water? and air
transportation,
optimization of transport tasks:
integration of more transport tasks into one
transport loop,
elimination of transport ways without useful
load (empty vehicles),
maximization of vehicle capacity during the
transport way (the adequate vehicle size is
used),
selection of the optimal transport route (taking
into consideration the topography (across
flatland, downy or mountain)).
TOTAL PRIME COST OF A TRANSPORT LOOP
At first we have to define the total prime cost of a
transport loop to find the possibilities of cost
reduction. It is suggested to define the sections of the
total loop. A section is a way between a dispatch
station and a discharge station. The cost components
of the sections are different due to the different
volume of transported goods, fuel consumption
depending on topography, etc.
Total prime cost of the ?
th
transport loop ( )
T
K
?
can
be calculated:
T L UL W A D M
K K K K K K K
? ? ? ? ? ? ?
= + + + + + (1)
where:
L
K
?
? cost of transport way with useful load (loaded);
UL
K
?
? cost of transport way without useful load
(unloaded);
W
K
?
? cost of waiting time;
A
K
?
? total additional costs (fee of motorway usage,
parking fee, …);
D
K
?
? wage cost of drivers;
M
K
?
? maintenance cost of own vehicles;
? ? identifier of the loop.
Cost of transport way with useful load
The cost of transport sections with useful load can be
calculated:
L L L
K k L
? ? ?
= ? [euro] (2)
where:
L
k
?
: specific cost of way with useful load in case of
?
th
transport loop
?
?
?
?
?
?
km
euro
,
L
L
?
: length of way with useful load in case of ?
th
transport loop [km].
1 2 3 0 L L L L L
k k
? ? ? ?
?
? ? ? = ? ? ?
?
?
?
?
?
?
km
euro
(3)
where:
0 L
k
?
: specific cost of vehicle of ?
th
transport loop (in
case of an empty vehicle)
0
100
R
L fR
f
k k
?
=
?
?
?
?
?
?
km
euro
(4)
where:
R
f : specific fuel consumption
litre
km
? ?
? ?
? ?
fR
k : cost of fuel
euro
litre
? ?
? ?
? ?
1 L
?
? : correction factor for fuel consumption
depending on features of the ground
2 L
?
? : correction factor for different fuel price of
different countries
3 L
?
? : correction factor for different loading condition
(weight of useful load)
Cost of transport way without useful load
The cost of transport sections without useful load can
be calculated:
UL UL UL
K k L
? ? ?
= ? [euro] (5)
where:
UL
L
?
: length of way without useful load in case of
?
th
transport loop [km].
UL
k
?
: specific cost of way without useful load
?
?
?
?
?
?
km
euro
,
1 2 0 UL UL UL UL
k k
? ? ?
?
? ? = ? ?
?
?
?
?
?
?
km
euro
(6)
where:
0 UL
k
?
: specific cost of vehicle of ?
th
transport loop (in
case of an empty vehicle)
0
100
Ü
UL fÜ
f
k k
?
=
(7)
ü
f : specific fuel consumption
litre
km
? ?
? ?
? ?
fü
k : cost of fuel
euro
litre
? ?
? ?
? ?
1 UL
?
? : correction factor for fuel consumption
depending on features of the ground
e.g. 1 ? normal (flatland),
1,3 ? hard (mountain),
ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – Bulletin of Engineering
2012. Fascicule 1 [January–March]
43
2 UL
?
? : correction factor for different fuel prices of
different countries
Cost of waiting time
The cost of waiting time during the transport way can
be calculated as the sum of the following components:
( )
W RA WA HA PA SA W
K T T T T T k
? ? ? ? ? ? ?
= + + + + ? [euro](8)
where:
RA
T
?
: time consumption of loading in and loading
out,
[ ] hour
WA
T
?
: waiting for loading in and loading out activity,
[ ] hour
,
HA
T
?
: waiting time at the frontier station,
[ ] hour
,
PA
T
?
: waiting time due to required resting,
[ ] hour
,
SA
T
?
: waiting time due to camion stop,
[ ] hour
W
k
?
: specific cost of waiting,
euro
hour
? ?
? ?
? ?
.
Additional costs
Total additional cost is the sum of the motorway fee
(
AM
K
?
) and parking fee (
AP
K
?
):
A AM AP
K K K
? ? ?
= + [euro] (9)
motorway fee: fee of motorway sections used by
vehicles
AM AM AM
K k m
? ? ?
?
? = ? ? [euro] (10)
where:
AM
k
?
average fee of a motorway section
sec
euro
tion
? ?
? ?
? ?
m
?
number of sections of the loops
AM
?
? correction factor relating to different cost of
different countries
parking fee: fee of parking times in the loops
AP P P Pt Pd T
K t k
? ? ? ? ?
?
? ? ? = ? ? ? ? [euro] (11)
where:
P
t
?
average parking time of a loop
[ ] hour
P
k
?
average parking fee of a loop
euro
hour
? ?
? ?
? ?
Pt
?
? correction factor for the average parking time
Pd
?
? correction factor for the average parking cost
T
?
? correction factor depends on the category of
vehicles (light track, camion, etc.)
Average wage cost of drivers
Average wage cost of drivers can be calculated with:
D D
K T b
?
? ? ?
? = ? ? [euro] (12)
where:
T
?
is the time consumption of a transport loop
[hour],
b
?
is the average wage cost of a driver
euro
hour
? ?
? ?
? ?
,
D
?
? is a correction factor for the average wage cost of
a driver.
Maintenance cost of the vehicles
Maintenance cost of own vehicles include the costs
which are independent on usage of vehicles, it means
that these costs are realized when the vehicles are not
on way (e.g.: leasing, maintenance, assurance ...).
Maintenance cost of a transport loop:
M M M
K T k
?
? ? ?
? = ? ? [euro] (13)
where:
T
?
is the time consumption of achievement of a loop
[ ] day ,
M
k
?
is the specific maintenance cost of vehicles
(leasing, maintenance, assurance, ...)
euro
day
? ?
? ?
? ?
,
M
?
? is a correction factor for maintenance cost of
different vehicles.
During the route planning optimization the total
prime cost should be minimized.
The main aim of our software to be developed is the
optimization of transport tasks.
Well organized transport loops result higher profit
and lower operation costs for the company, lower
specific transport cost for the customers and lower air
pollution.
ROUTE PLANNING METHOD
Actually at the forwarding company the route
planning is completed by planners without any
optimisation. There is a demand for application of an
efficient optimisation algorithm during the planning
process.
The software module to be developed will be used
during the long and short term route planning and
generation of master? and fine scheduling.
Figure 3. Time horizons of scheduling
Aims of master? and fine scheduling are the scheduling
of forwarding activity and allocation of vehicles to
destinations and tasks. Time interval of master
scheduling is 1?4 weeks, 1?2 days in case of fine
scheduling.
This software module can support the activity and
decision making of general management and planners.
Figure 4 shows the generation algorithm of transport
plans.
ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – Bulletin of Engineering
2012. Fascicule 1 [January–March] 44
Figure 4. Process of generation of transport plans
Steps of master scheduling are the followings:
a. Input data are the followings:
deadline for transport tasks,
characteristics of products to be transported,
volume,
special requirements,
characteristics of transport vehicles,
available the required vehicle or not,
capacity demand,
fuel consumption,
data relating to drivers of vehicles.
b. Demand can be fulfilled till the deadline? If can not
be fulfilled the next deadline should be defined till
the transport task can be completed.
c. Task can be fulfilled by own vehicle or by rented
vehicle. If the task can not be fulfilled by own
vehicle or by rented vehicle offer for the next
deadline when it can be fulfilled.
d. What is the capacity demand? Camion or light
truck is required?
e. Objective functions, constraints, priorities are
applied for the optimisation.
Possible objective functions of a multi?objective
optimisation:
total prime cost of transportation should be
minimal,
lead times should be minimal (time consumption of
transport activity, loading in and out, waiting time,
….).
Constraints:
Utilization of resources should be maximised:
vehicles,
human resources.
Customer demand satisfaction should be
maximised.
Constraints for vehicles:
Loading capacity (camion or light track).
Constraints for products.
Priorities:
for vehicles:
own or rented,
preferred one of own vehicles.
for customers:
regular customers,
new customers.
for transport loops:
task arrived earlier has priority.
for products.
f. Output data are the followings:
Transport demand can be fulfilled?
Transport demand can be fulfilled by own or
rented vehicle?
Which kind of vehicle is suggested to
complete the transportation?
Which transport tasks can be integrated
together to maximize utilization?
Which will be the path of the transport loop?
What is the deadline for achievement of the
transportation?
What is the cost of the transport task?
ADVANTAGES PROVIDED BY THE APPLICATION OF SOFTWARE
MODULES
Evaluation of logistics indicators relating to transport
activity can provide useful information because the
analysis of historic data provides a real view of the
company activity. This information can be useful for
decision making of the general management, and
during the daily routine (planning on short and long
time interval) on operative level.
Transport loop planning based on optimisation
provides automatic / semi?automatic plans for short
and long time intervals and optimal utilization of
resources (human and vehicle). Application of this
software module results planning of low cost
transport loops so a higher profit can be realized at
the company. The lower transport cost provides lower
price for the customer, which results higher
satisfaction of customers.
The amount of used fuel is globally can be decreased,
which results lower air pollution.
The R+D project is under elaboration, after the
finalization of optimization algorithm software
modules will be developed.
ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – Bulletin of Engineering
2012. Fascicule 1 [January–March]
45
SUMMARY / CONCLUSIONS
The paper introduces the conception of software to
be developed for a company in frame of a research
project.
This software has two modules, the first is an
evaluation module, and the second is a planning
module.
The planning module support the organization and
optimization of transport loops which can result
higher profit and lower operation costs for the
company, lower specific transport cost for the
customers and lower air pollution.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This research was carried out as part of the TAMOP?4.2.1.B?
10/2/KONV?2010?0001 project with support by the European
Union, co?financed by the European Social Fund.
REFERENCES
[1.] R+D report completed for a Hungarian forwarding
company, University of Miskolc, Department of
Materials Handling and Logistics, 2011.
[2.] CSELÉNYI, J.; ILLÉS, B.: Logisztikai rendszerek I. ?
Miskolci Egyetemi Kiadó, 2004.
[3.] SZEGEDI, Z., PREZENSZKI, J.: Logisztika?menedzsment
? Kossuth Kiadó, 2003.,
[4.] CSELÉNYI, J.; ILLÉS, B. szerkeszt?k: Anyagáramlási
rendszerek tervezése és irányítása I., Miskolci
Egyetemi Kiadó, 2006.
ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – BULLETIN of ENGINEERING
ISSN: 2067?3809 [CD?Rom, online]
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