title: Improving collection efficiency through remote monitoring of charity assets.
abstract: Collection costs associated with servicing a major UK charity's donation banks and collecting unsold goods from their retail shops can account for up to 20% of the overall income gained. Bank and shop collections are commingled and are typically made on fixed days of the week irrespective of the amounts of materials waiting to be collected. Using collection records from a major UK charity, this paper considers what vehicle routing and scheduling benefits could accrue if bank and shop servicing requirements were monitored, the former using remote sensing technology to allow more proactive collection scheduling. A vehicle routing and scheduling algorithm employing tabu search methods was developed, and suggested time and distance savings of up to 30% over the current fixed schedules when a minimum bank and shop fill level of between 50% and 60% was used as a collection trigger. For the case study investigated, this led to a potential revenue gain of 5% for the charity and estimated CO2 savings of around 0.5 tonnes per week across the fleet of six heterogeneous vehicles.
authors: Transportation Research Group, Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom. Electronic address: F.N.McLeod@soton.ac.uk.
authors: Fraser
authors: F
authors: McLeod
authors: Southampton Management School, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom. Electronic address: G.Erdogan@soton.ac.uk.
authors: Gunes
authors: G
authors: Erdogan
authors: Transportation Research Group, Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom. Electronic address: T.J.Cherrett@soton.ac.uk.
authors: Tom
authors: T
authors: Cherrett
authors: Southampton Management School, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom. Electronic address: T.Bektas@soton.ac.uk.
authors: Tolga
authors: T
authors: Bektas
authors: Computing Department, University of Lancaster, Lancaster LA1 4YR, United Kingdom. Electronic address: nigel@comp.lancs.ac.uk.
authors: Nigel
authors: N
authors: Davies
authors: Edinburgh College of Art, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH3 9DF, United Kingdom. Electronic address: Duncan@shingleton.org.
authors: Duncan
authors: D
authors: Shingleton
authors: Edinburgh College of Art, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH3 9DF, United Kingdom. Electronic address: C.Speed@ed.ac.uk.
authors: Chris
authors: C
authors: Speed
authors: School of Services Management, Bournemouth University, Bournemouth BH12 5BB, United Kingdom. Electronic address: JDickinson@bournemouth.ac.uk.
authors: Janet
authors: J
authors: Dickinson
authors: Directorate of Psychology & Public Health, School of Health Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M6 6PU, United Kingdom. Electronic address: S.H.Norgate@salford.ac.uk.
authors: Sarah
authors: S
authors: Norgate
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D002608:Charities / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / Q000191:economics; D058998:Remote Sensing Technology / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: Remote monitoring; Vehicle routing; Waste collection