Strategic Planning of Optimal Networks for Parcel and Letter Mail

Abstract

This paper considers postal logistics, more precisely, the distribution networks for letter mail and parcel mail. The main service provided by postal companies is letter mail and parcel mail transportation and delivery. In this market segment there have been two key efforts during the last few years: reduction in transportation and delivery time (service quality) and minimization of costs. Both efforts—reduction of service time and minimization of costs for providing the promised services—have a strong impact on the quality of the strategic planning phases of the respective distribution networks. In this article we introduce the structure of a typical distribution network for letter mail and for parcel mail, and we describe the main subnetworks. Furthermore, this paper deals with two selected projects on optimization of such networks. Each of the projects covers system analysis, modeling, and for the second project, also the development of an optimization algorithm.