1. ¹University of Missouri-St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
2. ²Insight, Inc., Manassas, VA, USA

Correspondence: D Ronen, College of Business Administration, University of Missouri-St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63121, USA. E-mail: david.ronen@umsl.edu

Received August 2006; Accepted April 2007; Published online 27 June 2007.

Abstract

We describe a system for tactical planning of store deliveries that has been developed for a major US retailer. The retailer operates several distribution centres (DCs) and has over one thousand stores. The system is used for planning weekly fixed truck routes for store deliveries at minimal cost, where each route visits several stores, taking into account tight daily workload constraints in the DCs, limited daily transportation capacity, and store requirements. Initial results show a saving potential of 1–5%, amounting to several million US dollars annually, and truncation of the planning process from weeks to hours.