• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.8-16
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• 2013

We consider a problem of presort and loading of commercial bulk mails in a mailing service. Here, presort is the process by which a mailer prepares mail so that it is sorted to at least the finest extent required by the mailing service provider for the (discounted) price claimed. The problem is formulated as a special type of transportation problem. To solve industrial-sized problems, we develop an efficient heuristic algorithm and perform experimental tests on randomly generated problem instances. Results of the tests show that mailers can save mailing cost much more when they use small-sized mail trays with less frequent mailings. Also, large-sized mailers can obtain much more cost saving than small-sized mailers. In addition, cost saving effect is influenced by delivery area distribution of mails and fluctuation of mailing demand.