Abstract:
Coca Cola company (a soft drink delivery company) uses the fixed/zone routing technique (trucks assigned to fixed geographic routes) to designate orders to the trucks. This causes imbalances in assigning deliveries to trucks. After receiving their orders, the drivers decide their stop sequence (often having to reorganize the products on the truck and bear in mind the pickups, empty bottles, at the stores). Further there is no concept of time frame for the deliveries, the only information sales would receive is the sequence of deliveries. Thus, sales have to guess estimated times of arrival for each stop. Dispatchers find it difficult to track the economic performance of the operations, due to lack of management reports that summarize the day's activities. With the help of GIS, the research aimed at visual representation of supply chain allowing for greater understanding of the operating environment within the corporate. From the results obtained, solution developed generated the most efficient routes for delivery vehicles, with less expenditure as exhibited in the results compared to the current techniques adopted. Alternative routes have also been generated and analyzed. This helps in rerouting of the supplies in case of problems on one route ensuring no delays in the deliveries. This inputs new capabilities into the hands of the account managers, delivery drivers, and in-store merchandisers responsible for keeping Coca-Cola Enterprises' products moving through the retail chain using GIS, therefore increasing the overall efficiency in the delivery.
