Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2013
Publication Title
European Journal of Operational Research
Abstract
Non-profit organizations like the Meals on Wheels (MOW) association of America prepare and deliver meals, typically daily, to approximately one million homebound citizens in the United States alone. However, many MOW agencies are facing a steadily increasing number of clients requesting meal service without an increase in resources (either financial or human). One strategy for accommodating these requests is to deliver multiple (frozen) meals at a time and thus make fewer delivers. However, many of the stakeholders (funders, volunteers, meal recipients) value the relationships that are developed by having a client receive daily deliveries from the same volunteer. Further, meal recipients may be concerned with the quality of the food delivered through a frozen meal. In this paper, we develop a method for introducing consolidation into home meal delivery while minimizing operational disruptions and maintaining client satisfaction. With an extensive computational study, the savings associated with various levels and types of disruptions are detailed.
Recommended Citation
Nowak, Maciek; Gala, Leo; and Hewitt, Mike. Enabling Greater Access to Home Meal Delivery. European Journal of Operational Research, , : , 2013. Retrieved from Loyola eCommons, Information Systems and Operations Management: Faculty Publications & Other Works,
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Comments
Submitted to European Journal of Operational Research.