Vehicle routing in cold food supply chain logistics: a literature review

• Date: 08 December 2020
• Published date: 08 December 2020
• Pages: 592-617
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-02-2020-0092
• Subject Matter: Management science & operations,Logistics
• Author: Mahmoud Awad,Malick Ndiaye,Ahmed Osman

Vehicle routing in cold food supply

chain logistics: a literature review

Mahmoud Awad, Malick Ndiaye and Ahmed Osman

Industrial Engineering Department, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah,

United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Purpose –Cold supply chain (CSC) distribution systems are vital in preserving the integrity and freshness of

transported temperature sensitive products. CSC is also known to be energy intensive with a significant

emission footprint. As a result, CSC requires strict monitoring and control managementsystem during storage

and transportation to improve safety and reduce profit losses. In this research, a systematic review of recent

literature related to the distribution of food CSC products is presented and possible areas to extend research in

modeling and decision-making are identified.

Design/methodology/approach –The paper analyzes the content of 65 recent articles related to CSC and

perishable foods. Several relevant keywords were used in the initial search, which generated a list of 214

articles. The articles were screened based on content relevance in terms of food vehicle routing modeling and

quality. Selected articles were categorized and analyzed based on cost elements, modeling framework and

solution approach. Finally, recommendations for future research are suggested.

Findings –The review identified several research gaps in CSC logistics literature, where more focused

research is warranted. First, the review suggests that dynamic vehicle modeling and routing while considering

products quality and environmental impacts is still an open area for research. Second, there is no consensus

among researchers in terms of quality degradation models used to assess the freshness of transported cold

food. As a result, an investigation of critical parameters and quality modeling is warranted. Third, and due to

the problem complexity, there is a need for developing heuristics and metaheuristics to solve such models.

Finally, there is a need for extending the single product single compartment CSC to multi-compartment multi-

temperature routing modeling.

Originality/value –The article identified possible areas to extend research in CSC distribution modeling and

decision-making. Modified models that reflect real applications will help practitioners, food authorities and

researchers make timely and more accurate decisions that will reduce food waste and improve the freshness of

transported food.

Keywords Food distribution, Cold supply chain, Vehicle routing problem

Paper type Literature review

1. Introduction

Food waste is a major issue that drew the attention of policy makers, food supply chain

industries,and even households.According to the Foodand Agriculture Organization (FAO)of

theUnited Nations, itis estimated that almostone-third ofthe food produced globallyfor human

consumption is either being lost or wasted (Gustavsson et al., 2011). Controlling conditions of

foodduring storage and distributionplays a majorrole in contributingto these losses, especially

when 50% of food waste is fresh fruits and vegetables (Stenmarck et al.,2016). Srivastava et al.

(2015) reported thatfood retailers experienceprofit margins losses due to coldchain risks such

as transportdelays and breakdowns, temperature abuse, andcross contamination. In addition,

cold foodsupply chain influencesfreshness, which is a criticalfactor that consumersvalue and

tend to judge the quality of retailers’products accordingly. According to a recent survey of

23,000European shoppersrevealed that grocerscould boost sales offresh fruits and vegetables

by asmuch as 10 percent evenin a flat market by enhancingfreshness(L€

aubliand Ottink, 2018).

Cold supply chain (CSC) is the process of preparing, storing, transporting, and monitoring

temperature-sensitive products such as food, medicine, flowers, and blood. It involves

IJLM

32,2

592

Funding This work was supported by the American University of Sharjah Smart City Research Institute

grant SRC-18.

Received 13 February 2020

Revised 12 May 2020

19 September 2020

Accepted 17 November 2020

The International Journal of

Logistics Management

Vol. 32 No. 2, 2021

pp. 592-617

© Emerald Publishing Limited

0957-4093

DOI 10.1108/IJLM-02-2020-0092

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/0957-4093.htm

understanding the chemical and biological factors that affect products’perishability and

implies technological means to monitor and maintain the required temperature throughout

the supply chain (Rodrigue and Notteboom, 2017). Figure 1 illustrates an example of a food

CSC where the harvested food from farms are sent to food packing services before sending

them to distribution centers (DCs). Next, the food is transferred from the DC via refrigerated

trucks to retailers. Finally, food is picked up by customers or delivered to them using retailers’

carrier services. The integrity of the CSC has to be preserved from harvesting, packing,

storage, and throughout all phases of transportation and handling in order to maintain its

freshness and fit for consumption by customers. In this review, the scope is limited to the

distribution stage from DC to retailers using cooling trucks.

In order to improve CSC operations, data-driven decisions backed up by mathematical

modeling that reflects CSC risks should be utilized. For these models to be effective, it needs to

incorporate accurate data to evaluate the cost and quality of distributed products. The

objective of this article is to provide a review of recent research activities in the modeling of

distribution of temperature-sensitive products such as food and provide some future research

recommendations. Modeling and finding the optimal vehicle routing from DC to retail centers

drew a lot of researchers’attention due to its impact on total cost and quality of transported

cold products. As a result, the scope of this review is limited to CSC vehicle routing problem

(CSC-VRP) models.

The main aim of the review is to identify possible areas to extend research in CSC VRP

modeling and decision-making. Modified models that reflect real applications will help

practitioners,food authorities,and researchersmake timely and moreaccurate decisions.These

decisions will eventually help the global effort in terms of cost, energy, and waste reduction.

The review provides a survey of quality factors used to model cold products quality

degradation. Moreover, the review also provides a comprehensive analysis of CSC-VRP

optimizationmodels along with detailed referencedobjective functions and modelconstraints.

Although other researchers conducted reviews of CSC research (Shashi et al., 2018;

Bremer, 2018;Chaudhuri et al., 2018), these review shad a different focus. For example Shashi

et al. (2018) analyzed the content of 89 research articles related to food cold chain. However,

the emphasis of this review is effective strategies tackling chain complexities in both

developing and developed economies. The majority of the papers reviewed by Shashi et al. are

focused on food cold chain performance (FCCP) factors and key metrics for performance

measurement. Furthermore, Shashi et al. proposed a conceptual model highlighting the

interrelationships between different FCCP factors such as FCC infrastructure and FCC

integration, among others. Our review article is focused on continuous replenishment

operating in developed economies.

Similarly, Bremer (2018) conducted a systematic review with the aim of synthesizing the

conceptual elements in cold chain into a reference model using an object-oriented approach.

Farm DC

Packing

Service

Retailer

Retailer

Retailer

Customers

Customers

Customers

Figure 1.

A typical cold

supply chain

Vehicle routing

in cold chain:

review

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