Using the route planning for supplying spare parts to reduce distribution costs: a case study in a roadside assistance company

In this study, a distribution model has been proposed to optimise the transportation, inventory, and shortage costs for the delivery of spare parts to roadside assistance cars. The model is based on the travelling salesman problem (TSP), where we have added a function to optimise distribution days. The model has been used in a real case for a roadside assistance company with 36 roadside assistance cars. In the company's current plan, each car visits the company's warehouse every five days to pick up spare parts. Using a delivery truck is proposed to deliver spare parts to the roadside assistance cars. Based on this proposal, a model was developed to reduce distribution costs by choosing the optimal delivery route and distribution days. The proposed plan has reduced the distribution cost by more than 50% compared with the current distribution plan used by the company.