Teilautomatisierte Tourenplanung im Vor- und Nachlauf einer Stückgutspedition

Abstract

The freight forwarding industry is facing considerable challenges in the face of rising transport volumes, increasing customer expectations and a growing shortage of skilled workers. In addition to the general challenges, there is fierce competition in the groupage freight forwarding sector in particular, as there is little difference between the services offered in terms of quality and cost. Therefore, efficient route planning in the pre- and oncarriage of groupage transport is a determining factor for the long-term competitiveness of a company. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to analyse the effects of the implementation of a semi-automated route planning algorithm in the local transport of the company DACHSER. In addition to the efficiency and quality of the route planning results, the practical suitability and acceptance of the software will also be examined. The work is divided into three central sections: First, the theoretical foundations and the logistical context at DACHSER are presented. This is followed by a detailed analysis of the existing scheduling process as well as the functionality and implementation of the route planning algorithm “XDP”. In the empirical part of the thesis, quantitative data is first collected over a two-week period to evaluate the effectiveness of the route planning algorithm. This is followed by a user survey that contains both quantitative and qualitative elements in order to gain differentiated and practical insights into the acceptance and practical suitability of the solution. The results of the data collected and the user survey show that the use of the “XDP” route planning algorithm in the pre- and post-carriage of local transport represents a promising step towards more efficient and resource-saving route planning. The generated route plans show a high level of agreement with the actual routes taken, which indicates a high level of planning quality. At the same time, however, it is noted that the software is still struggling with challenges such as inadequate data quality, which has a negative impact on the results of route planning. It is noted that further development of the route planning algorithm will be necessary in order to raise the efficiency and acceptance of “XDP” to a level that relieves the burden on the dispatch staff who work with it on a daily basis and who see significant added value in “XDP”.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	German (Austria)
Supervisor	Matthias Neubauer (Supervisor)