ALLOCATION OF POSTAL NETWORK FACILITIES, BASED ON EXISTING ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE

  • Jozef Štefunko Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transport and Communications, University of Žilina
  • Radovan Madleňák Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transport and Communications, University of Žilina
Keywords: Postal network, infrastructure, allocation models, p-median

Abstract

Postal operator, as well as every network enterprise, needs to keep its costs on the lowest level possible, while maintaining the reliability and availability of its services. One option to the costs is to optimize the transport network. This article focuses on the creation of postal network based on existing road infrastructure in Slovakia. Except the basic analysis of the infrastructure, the research approach adopted in this article relies on methods of graph theory to solve allocation problems. In particular, it is the method of p-median values and its algorithms to determine the number and location of new postal sorting centers. The findings showed that the analysis performed is just the cornerstone in finding the optimal solution for such strategic investments. Results are bounded to the input values used, especially the distance of the network vertices. Specific values of postal sector need to be incorporated with more thorough analysis of road infrastructure, considering future development of transport network.

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Published
2015-09-19