Express company’s vehicle routing optimization by multiple-dynamic saving algorithm

Purpose: According to the disorder in circulation commuting and crossover commuting of SF company which is the China’s largest private express delivery service provider, the study uses the Saving Algorithm to make the vehicle routing and resources optimized, on this basis, proposes innovative improvements with Saving Algorithm and then applies it in every distribution center of SF forming a "multi-dynamic" type of Saving Algorithm to ensure both cost savings and timeliness. This method can be generalized for all express company to get the vehicle routing optimized. Design/methodology/approach: As the special transportation requirements of express companies, this study optimizes the vehicle route based on Saving Algorithm, uses multiple-dynamic Saving Algorithm, and considers the timeliness requirements of the express company to achieve a balance of cost and timeliness. Findings: The main finding is that a new method proposed which there can be a balance improvement for both cost and timeliness to optimize the vehicle route of express company. Calculation example validates the effectiveness of the model established and solving method. Practical implications: It is a widespread practice that by setting up model and parameters for the objectives, express company can maintain the balances between cost and timeliness and achieve the optimized vehicle route. Originality/value: It proposes innovative improvements, takes SF express company as an example, with Saving Algorithm which can be applied in every distribution center of express company to ensure the balance improvement for both cost and timeliness, and has a great practical significance to the transportation network and path optimization of express companies.Peer Reviewe

Express company’s vehicle routing optimization by multiple-dynamic saving algorithm

Purpose: According to the disorder in circulation commuting and crossover commuting of SF company which is the China’s largest private express delivery service provider, the study uses the Saving Algorithm to make the vehicle routing and resources optimized, on this basis, proposes innovative improvements with Saving Algorithm and then applies it in every distribution center of SF forming a "multi-dynamic" type of Saving Algorithm to ensure both cost savings and timeliness. This method can be generalized for all express company to get the vehicle routing optimized. Design/methodology/approach: As the special transportation requirements of express companies, this study optimizes the vehicle route based on Saving Algorithm, uses multiple-dynamic Saving Algorithm, and considers the timeliness requirements of the express company to achieve a balance of cost and timeliness. Findings: The main finding is that a new method proposed which there can be a balance improvement for both cost and timeliness to optimize the vehicle route of express company. Calculation example validates the effectiveness of the model established and solving method. Practical implications: It is a widespread practice that by setting up model and parameters for the objectives, express company can maintain the balances between cost and timeliness and achieve the optimized vehicle route. Originality/value: It proposes innovative improvements, takes SF express company as an example, with Saving Algorithm which can be applied in every distribution center of express company to ensure the balance improvement for both cost and timeliness, and has a great practical significance to the transportation network and path optimization of express companies.Peer Reviewe

Parametric or nonparametric? A parametricness index for model selection

In model selection literature, two classes of criteria perform well asymptotically in different situations: Bayesian information criterion (BIC) (as a representative) is consistent in selection when the true model is finite dimensional (parametric scenario); Akaike's information criterion (AIC) performs well in an asymptotic efficiency when the true model is infinite dimensional (nonparametric scenario). But there is little work that addresses if it is possible and how to detect the situation that a specific model selection problem is in. In this work, we differentiate the two scenarios theoretically under some conditions. We develop a measure, parametricness index (PI), to assess whether a model selected by a potentially consistent procedure can be practically treated as the true model, which also hints on AIC or BIC is better suited for the data for the goal of estimating the regression function. A consequence is that by switching between AIC and BIC based on the PI, the resulting regression estimator is simultaneously asymptotically efficient for both parametric and nonparametric scenarios. In addition, we systematically investigate the behaviors of PI in simulation and real data and show its usefulness.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/11-AOS899 the Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Proxy Re-encryption based Fair Trade Protocol for Digital Goods Transactions via Smart Contracts

With the massive amount of digital data generated everyday, transactions of digital goods become a trend. One of the essential requirements for such transactions is fairness, which is defined as that both of the seller and the buyer get what they want, or neither. Current fair trade protocols generally involve a trusted third-party (TTP), which achieves fairness by heavily relying on the TTP's behaviors and the two parties' trust in the TTP. With the emergence of Blockchain, its decentralization and transparency make it a very good candidate to replace the TTP. In this work, we attempt to design a secure and fair protocol for digital goods transactions through smart contracts on Blockchain. To ensure security of the digital goods, we propose an advanced passive proxy re-encryption (PRE) scheme, which enables smart contracts to transfer the decryption right to a buyer after receiving his/her payment. Furthermore, based on smart contracts and the proposed passive PRE scheme, a fair trade protocol for digital goods transactions is proposed, whose fairness is guaranteed by the arbitration protocol. The proposed protocol supports Ciphertext publicity and repeatable sale, while involving less number of interactions. Comprehensive experiment results validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed protocol