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Continuous approximation models in freight distribution management

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Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the literature on continuous approximation models in the context of distribution management. It first describes the seminal contributions of Beardwood, Halton and Hammersley, and of Daganzo and Newell. This is followed by a summary of various extensions, and by applications to districting, location, fleet sizing and vehicle routing.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge funding provided by the Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council under Grants 436014-2013 and 2015-06189.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Canada Research Chair in Distribution Management, HEC Montréal, 3000 chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Cathrine, Montréal, H3T 2A7, Canada

    Anna Franceschetti & Gilbert Laporte

  2. Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Ola Jabali

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  1. Anna Franceschetti
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  2. Ola Jabali
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  3. Gilbert Laporte
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Correspondence to Ola Jabali.

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This invited paper is discussed in the comments available at doi:10.1007/s11750-017-0457-0, doi:10.1007/s11750-017-0458-z, and doi:10.1007/s11750-017-0460-5.

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Franceschetti, A., Jabali, O. & Laporte, G. Continuous approximation models in freight distribution management. TOP 25, 413–433 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11750-017-0456-1

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