Maiyar, Lohithaksha M and Ramanathan, Ramakrishnan and Roy, Indira and Ramanathan, Usha (2023) A Decision Support Model for Cost-Effective Choice of Temperature-Controlled Transport of Fresh Food. Sustainability, 15 (8). p. 6821. DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086821
Maiyar, Lohithaksha M and Ramanathan, Ramakrishnan and Roy, Indira and Ramanathan, Usha (2023) A Decision Support Model for Cost-Effective Choice of Temperature-Controlled Transport of Fresh Food. Sustainability, 15 (8). p. 6821. DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086821
Maiyar, Lohithaksha M and Ramanathan, Ramakrishnan and Roy, Indira and Ramanathan, Usha (2023) A Decision Support Model for Cost-Effective Choice of Temperature-Controlled Transport of Fresh Food. Sustainability, 15 (8). p. 6821. DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086821
Abstract
The application of a plethora of wireless technologies to support real-time food quality monitoring during transportation has significantly improved the performance of fresh food delivery systems. However, deployment of these technologies increases the capital and operational costs of food delivery and, hence, not all food delivery operations need to employ them. This paper looks at the trade-off of the costs involved in utilizing these technologies with the nature of food delivered, the length of transportation, and the perceived costs of food wasted using a linear programming model. The problem is formulated over a bi-echelon network with the possibility of transporting the fresh produce through dry vans, vans with temperature control but without monitoring capability, and vans with temperature control and monitoring capability. Results indicate that under situations of infinite vehicle resource availability, the optimal choice of the van type is independent of the demand levels; however, the optimal choice changes for different travel distances and the value of penalty costs (of allowing food to go waste). For example, technologies that maintain and monitor the temperature of storage conditions will be useful for food items that quickly become waste, especially when transported over longer distances and when the penalty costs are higher.
Item Type: | Article |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | Internet of Things sensors; temperature control; temperature monitoring; decision support model; food waste; food supply chains |
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences Faculty of Social Sciences > Essex Business School |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 08 Jun 2023 08:51 |
Last Modified: | 16 May 2024 21:48 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/35444 |
Available files
Filename: sustainability-15-06821-with-cover.pdf
Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0