Supporting delivery allocation decisions in a beverage company with multi-criteria methods and an optimization model

Abstract

Bidding processes are common for transparency purposes in several areas, such as civil construction and energy exploration. Usually, public agencies are responsible for the projects and formal notices are launched for the competition of interested parties. Also, those processes may occur in the private sector, and the decision process involves multiple dimensions that may be conflicting. The present study presents a multi-criteria model to support decisions involving the allocation of deliveries (pallets) in the bidding process of a beverage company, where a set of carriers compete for the distribution of beverages in routes. On each route, there is a specific set of competing carriers. In addition, a carrier can participate in the process of more than one route, however, the carrier's capacity must be respected, considering the combination of allocations received on the solution. The Best-Worst Method (BWM) is used to obtain weights for criteria that are later applied in the PROMETHEE II method. The net flows from PROMETHEE II are then used in an assignment model, which outputs the share allocated to each carrier in each route. The tests and models include several practical constraints, and the approach achieved consistent results that may be replicated to support decision-making and future processes.