• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.7-17
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• 2018

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to improve last mile delivery capability and ensure customers' satisfaction by approaching an analytic hierarchy process(AHP) and identifying criteria framework to determine locations of last mile delivery centre(LMDC). Research design, data, and methodology - Traffic congestion and emission policy in cities are barriers of last mile delivery in dense areas. The urban consolidation centre(UCC) cannot increase last mile delivery efficiency in dense cities because of their space and traffic limitation. In this paper, we develop a case to improve last mile delivery efficiency and to ensure customers' satisfaction by concentrating on LMDC. In addition, AHP has been applied to identify criteria framework and determine LMDC locations. The weighted priorities are derived from parcel delivery industry experts and have been calculated using Expert Choice software. Results - The framework criteria have assisted decision makers to place LMDC in a dense area to enhance customer's satisfaction with last mile delivery service. Conclusions - AHP has provided ranking framework criteria of LMDC potential for parcel delivery industry. The LMDC helps by improving last mile delivery efficiency to final destination amids conditions of CO₂ emissions, traffic congestion, and pollution problems. It especially concerns delivery service activities when delivering parcels to customers rather than UCC.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.39-50
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• 2020

Purpose: This paper aimed to study the current locations of post offices to analyze service coverage area for parcel delivery in the Eastern Economics Corridor (EEC), which must be considered in the last mile to extend delivery service for e-commerce growth. Thailand Post was the case study in this paper. Research design, data and methodology: To involve solving the delivery service area under the last mile condition, the authors proposed a network analysis to determine service radius by employing a Geographic Information System (GIS). Furthermore, this paper applied Dijkstra's algorithm as a network analysis tool from GIS for analyzing the last mile service coverage area in a new economics zone. At the same time, the authors suggested an approach as a solution to locate last mile delivery center in EEC. Results: The results of the study pointed out that Thailand Post should consider more last mile delivery centers in EEC to support its express service in urban areas as well as improve the efficiency of service coverage for parcel delivery and create more advantages against competitors. Conclusions: This paper proposes a network analysis to extend the last mile service for parcel delivery by following Dijkstra's algorithm from GIS and a solution approach to add more last mile delivery centers. The results of the research will contribute to boosting customer satisfaction for last mile delivery service and enabling easy accessibility to a service center in EEC.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.225-232
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• 2022

Recently, unmanned logistics delivery systems, such as UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, written as drone below) and autonomous robot delivery systems, have been implemented in many countries due to the rapid development of autonomous driving technology. The development of these new types of advanced unmanned logistics delivery systems is essential not only to become a leading logistics company but also to secure national competitiveness. In this paper, the application of the unmanned logistics delivery system was investigated in terms of market trends, overall technology level of last mile delivery drone and autonomous delivery robot. The direction of response to changes in the last mile delivery service market was checked through a comparison of the technological level between domestic companies that produce last mile devices and advanced foreign companies. As a result of this technology level analysis, the difference between domestic companies and advanced companies was shown using tables and figures to show their relative levels. The results of this analysis reflect the opinions of experts in the field of last-mile delivery technology. In addition, the technology level of unmanned logistics delivery systems for each country was analyzed based on the number of related technology patents. Lastly, insights for the technology level analysis of unmanned last mile delivery systems were proposed as a conclusion.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.25-35
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• 2018

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to partition a last-mile delivery network into zones and to determine locations of last mile delivery centers (LMDCs) in Bangkok, Thailand. Research design, data, and methodology - As online shopping has become popular, parcel companies need to improve their delivery services as fast as possible. A network partition has been applied to evaluate suitable service areas by using METIS algorithm to solve this scenario and a facility location problem is used to address LMDC in a partitioned area. Research design, data, and methodology - Clustering and mixed integer programming algorithms are applied to partition the network and to locate facilities in the network. Results - Network partition improves last mile delivery service. METIS algorithm divided the area into 25 partitions by minimizing the inter-network links. To serve short-haul deliveries, this paper located 96 LMDCs in compact partitioning to satisfy customer demands. Conclusions -The computational results from the case study showed that the proposed two-phase algorithm with network partitioning and facility location can efficiently design a last-mile delivery network. It improves parcel delivery services when sending parcels to customers and reduces the overall delivery time. It is expected that the proposed two-phase approach can help parcel delivery companies minimize investment while providing faster delivery services.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.160-167
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• 2023

This study focuses on the development of a Last-Mile delivery service using unmanned vehicles to deliver goods directly to the end consumer utilizing drones to perform autonomous delivery missions and an image-based precision landing algorithm for handoff to a robot in an intermediate facility. As the logistics market continues to grow rapidly, parcel volumes increase exponentially each year. However, due to low delivery fees, the workload of delivery personnel is increasing, resulting in a decrease in the quality of delivery services. To address this issue, the research team conducted a study on a Last-Mile delivery service using unmanned vehicles and conducted research on the necessary technologies for drone-based goods transportation in this paper. The flight scenario begins with the drone carrying the goods from a pickup location to the rooftop of a building where the final delivery destination is located. There is a handoff facility on the rooftop of the building, and a marker on the roof must be accurately landed upon. The mission is complete once the goods are delivered and the drone returns to its original location. The research team developed a mission planning algorithm to perform the above scenario automatically and constructed an algorithm to recognize the marker through a camera sensor and achieve a precision landing. The performance of the developed system has been verified through multiple trial operations within ETRI.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.60-67
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• 2021

Countries around the world, including the U.S. are actively researching to commercialize the logistics services using drones. In Korea, telecommunications companies as well as logistics companies are researching and developing the logistics services using drones. However, there's an environmental difference for last-mile delivery between the U.S. and Korea. In Korea, more than 77% of the population lives in apartments and the population density is the 4th highest in the world. Accordingly, in terms of the logistics services using drones, it is necessary to research it with the Korean suitable environment. In this paper, a precision positioning method of drone last-mile delivery in urban areas using short-range wireless communication and barometer is proposed. The experiment results show that the proposed method can detect a window within 2.5 meters. It is expected that the proposed method will help improve the logistics services using drones in urban areas.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Systems Engineering
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.59-73
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• 2023

Due to the steady growth of the online shopping market and contact-free consumption, the volume of parcels in South Korea continues to increase. However, there is a lack of manpower for delivery workers to handle the growing parcel volume, leading to frequent accidents related to delivery work. As a result, the government and local authorities strive to enhance last-mile logistics efficiency. As one of these measures, unmanned parcel storage lockers are installed and utilized to handle last-mile deliveries. However, the existing parcel storage involves the inconvenience of couriers having to put each parcel in each locker, and this is somewhat insufficient to relieve the workload of delivery workers. In this study, we propose parcel storage devices that use active loading technology to minimize the workload of delivery workers, extract operation risk factors to apply this system to actual sites, and establish risk reduction methods based on the ALARP concept. Through this study, we have laid the groundwork for improving the safety of the system by identifying and proposing mitigation measures for the risk factors associated with the proposed parcel storage devices utilizing active loading technology. When applied in practical settings in the future, this foundation will contribute to the development of a more efficient and secure system. By applying the ALARP concept, a systems engineering technique used in this research, to the development and maintenance of storage devices leveraging active loading technology, it is thought to make the development process more systematic and structured. Furthermore, through the risk management of the proposed system, it is anticipated that a systematic approach to quality management can be employed to minimize defects and provide a stable system. This is expected to be more useful than the existing unmanned parcel storage devices.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.10-17
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• 2023

Recently, robots have been actively utilized for logistics and delivery services in various places such as restaurants, hotels, and hospitals. In addition, it provides a safer environment, convenience, and cost efficiency to the customers. However, when it comes to autonomous delivery in a multi-floor environment, the task is still challenging. Especially for wheeled mobile robots, it is necessary to deal with elevators to perform the last-mile delivery services. Therefore, we present a multi-floor route planning algorithm that enables a wheeled mobile robot to traverse an elevator for the delivery service. In addition, an elevator boarding mission algorithm was developed to perceive the drivable region within the elevator and generate a feasible path that is collision-free. The algorithm was tested with real-world experiments and was demonstrated to perform autonomous postal delivery service in a multi-floor building. We concluded that our study could contribute to building a stable autonomous driving robot system for a multi-floor environment.

• The Journal of Bigdata
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.159-173
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• 2019

Last-Mile delivery optimization plays a key role in the urban supply chain operation, which is the most expensive and time-consuming and most complicated part of the whole delivery process. The urban consolidation center (UCC) is regarded as a significant asset for supporting customer demand in the last-mile delivery service. It is the key benefit of UCC to improve the load balance of vehicles and to reduce the total traveling distance by finding the better route with the well-organized multi-leg vehicle journey in the urban area. This paper presents the model using multiple scenario analysis integrated with mathematical optimization techniques using Geographic Information System (GIS). The model aims to find the best solution for the distribution network consisted of DC and UCC, which is applied to the case of Ulaanbaatar Mongolia. The proposed methodology integrates two sub-models, location-allocation model and vehicle routing problem. The multiple scenarios devised by selecting locations of UCC are compared considering the general performance and delivery patterns together. It has been adopted to make better decisions the quantitative metrics such as the economic value of capital cost, operating cost, and balance of using available resources. The result of this research may help the manager or public authorities who should design the distribution network for the last mile delivery service optimization using UCC within the urban area.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.199-204
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• 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in early 2020, became an opportunity for unprecedented global reflection and change. And it served as an opportunity to promote a new paradigm in all areas of society, including politics, economy, culture, and industry. In the midst of this upheaval, the 2022 IAA exhibition, which was held in four years, was held as an exhibition that even proposed new concepts of smart logistics and mobility services. Among them, various concepts were also proposed in exhibitions related to last mile mobility, the focus of this study.As a result of this study, the main trend of last mile mobility shown in the IAA 2022 exhibition is that the property of physical products with functions as social interfaces is expanding into the PSS (Product-Service System) ecosystem in which products and services are systematically linked. As a result, the need for a methodological approach that can organically link the design planning of social services and the development of products corresponding to it was derived.