Zoning in emerging logistics systems: New theory and practice

Zoning shapes how complicated logistics and societal systems work in practice. In particular, the growth of e-commerce and on-demand delivery services poses new challenges for operationalising zoning to achieve efficiency goals. In this talk, I will discuss new zoning methods and their applications to manage emerging logistics systems in retail and last-mile delivery. Specifically, I will introduce a provably effective zoning policy to manage time-sensitive delivery requests under uncertainty, and describe a field implementation of a flexible zoning policy for a large logistics company in Southeast Asia. Lastly, I will present a new approach to using zoning to manage a dual-delivery system comprising both scheduled and on-demand delivery jobs, shedding light on the value of co-modality for future transportation and logistics systems.

Papers/Articles

Sheng Liu is an Assistant Professor of Operations Management and Statistics at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. He joined Rotman after graduating from Berkeley in 2019. Sheng’s research focuses on solving operations problems in supply chains, transportation, and logistics systems through optimisation and data analytics. His industry experience includes consulting or working for organizations such as JD.com, Sport Chek, Ninja Van, Hungerhub, Amazon, and Lyft. More recently, he has been working on (a) data-driven and sustainable urban infrastructure planning, (b) inventory placement in online retailing, and (c) zoning/districting in emerging logistics systems. He also strives to improve decision outcomes for vulnerable groups, motivated by collaboration with non-profit organisations, including charities and food banks. He currently takes editorial positions at Transportation Science, Production and Operations Management, and Service Science.

For more information about the ESD Seminar, please email esd_invite@sutd.edu.sg