Artificial Intelligence in Organisation and Managerial Studies: A Computational Literature Review

The goal of this paper is to develop a complete overview of the current debate on artificial intelligence in organisation and managerial studies. To this end, we adopted the Computational Literature Review (CLR) method to conduct an impact and a topic modelling analysis of the relevant literature, using the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) technique. As a result, we identified 15 topics concerning the artificial intelligence debate in organisation studies, providing a detailed description of each of them and identifying which one is declining, stable or emerging. We also recognized two main branches of research regarding technical and societal aspects, where the latter is becoming increasingly important in recent years. Finally, focusing on the emerging topics, we proposed a set of guiding questions that might foster future research directions. This paper provides insights to scholars and managers interested in AI and could be used also as guide to perform CLR

The Bi-objective Long-haul Transportation Problem on a Road Network

In this paper we study a long-haul truck scheduling problem where a path has to be determined for a vehicle traveling from a specified origin to a specified destination. We consider refueling decisions along the path, while accounting for heterogeneous fuel prices in a road network. Furthermore, the path has to comply with Hours of Service (HoS) regulations. Therefore, a path is defined by the actual road trajectory traveled by the vehicle, as well as the locations where the vehicle stops due to refueling, compliance with HoS regulations, or a combination of the two. This setting is cast in a bi-objective optimization problem, considering the minimization of fuel cost and the minimization of path duration. An algorithm is proposed to solve the problem on a road network. The algorithm builds a set of non-dominated paths with respect to the two objectives. Given the enormous theoretical size of the road network, the algorithm follows an interactive path construction mechanism. Specifically, the algorithm dynamically interacts with a geographic information system to identify the relevant potential paths and stop locations. Computational tests are made on real-sized instances where the distance covered ranges from 500 to 1500 km. The algorithm is compared with solutions obtained from a policy mimicking the current practice of a logistics company. The results show that the non-dominated solutions produced by the algorithm significantly dominate the ones generated by the current practice, in terms of fuel costs, while achieving similar path durations. The average number of non-dominated paths is 2.7, which allows decision makers to ultimately visually inspect the proposed alternatives

Minimum cost path problem for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

We introduce a practically important and theoretically challenging problem: finding the minimum cost path for PHEVs in a road network with refueling and charging stations. We show that this problem is NP-complete and present a mixed integer quadratically constrained formulation, a discrete approximation dynamic programming heuristic, and a shortest path heuristic as solution methodologies. Practical applications of the problem in transportation and logistics, considering specifically the long-distance trips, are discussed in detail. Through extensive computational experiments, significant insights are provided. In addition to the charging infrastructure availability, a driver's stopping tolerance arises as another critical factor affecting the transportation costs. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd

The vehicle routing problem and its intersection with cross-docking

To close a gap identified in the vehicle routing academic literature a theoretical link is established between the Vehicle Routing Problem and Cross Docking. A model for the vehicle routing problem with shipment consolidation (VRPC), in which vehicles can consolidate cargo among one another at a customer’s location, is presented. With shipment consolidation, vehicles can deliver product to a customer, transfer product to another vehicle, or both. Three main models are proposed: the vehicle routing problem with shipment consolidation (VRPC) which improves routing performance by allowing vehicles to consolidate cargo at any customer site; a metaheuristic to explore the effects of the VRPC over large scale problems; and the Vehicle Routing Problem with Shipment Consolidation and Time Windows (VRPCTW) to further study the proposed concept under extended, more constrained circumstances. Computational experiments are developed and solved to optimality where possible using OPL and Java in conjunction with CPLEX and show that the proposed concept of shipment consolidation can provide significant savings in objective function value when compared to previously published models

Implementação de Modelo de Otimização da Política de Reabastecimento para Transportadores Rodoviários de Carga

A administração do transporte é fundamental para a competitividade das empresas visto que o transporte representa uma grande parcela do custo logístico total. Em paralelo a isso, sabe-se que o transporte no Brasil é altamente concentrado pelo modo rodoviário e que um dos maiores custos das transportadoras é com o combustível (estima-se que 17% de todo o custo logístico existente nas empresas transportadoras seja gasto com diesel). Analisando a literatura existente, é possível encontrar alguns modelos de otimização que se aproveitam da diferença de preços do diesel entre os diferentes postos de abastecimento para reduzir os gastos das transportadoras com combustível. Dentro desse contexto, pode-se selecionar também algumas patentes sobre assuntos próximos ao tema. Desta forma, esse trabalho descreve o desenvolvimento de um aplicativo de fácil acesso aos usuários por meio de aparelhos móveis que se utiliza desses modelos e trabalha como um sistema de suporte de decisão para reduzir o custo operacional de empresas transportadoras de cargas rodoviárias brasileiras

IMPLEMENTAÇÃO do Modelo de Otimização da Política de Reabastecimento para Transportes Rodoviários de Carga: Aplicação da Metodologia de Pesquisa-ação

Dentre os custos logísticos, os custos com transportes representam de um a dois terços dos custos totais. O transporte rodoviário é um dos mais simples e eficientes dentre os modais, porém apresenta altos gastos devido a significância no custo do óleo diesel e seu alto consumo. No Brasil o transporte de cargas e pessoas concentra-se no modo rodoviário. Dentro desse contexto e analisando a literatura existente, este trabalho tem o objetivo de utilizar o aplicativo de política de reabastecimento de combustível, no serviço de transporte de carga a fim de reduzir os gastos de uma empresa fabricante de alho do estado do Espírito Santo. O aplicativo tem como função determinar a política de reabastecimento ótima no transporte entre a fábrica e seus consumidores, levando em consideração a variação nos preços dos combustíveis nos diferentes postos de abastecimento. Para conduzir esta implementação na empresa, foi utilizada a metodologia de pesquisa-ação com o objetivo de que os participantes dessa pesquisa estejam envolvidos de modo cooperativo ou participativo. Dentro os testes feitos com o aplicativo juntamente com o caminhoneiro os resultados encontrados possibilitaram a criação de uma nova política de reabastecimento com redução de 30% nos custos de combustível na empresa