Route Optimization for take-out deliveriesRoute Optimization for take-out deliveries Μεταπτυχιακή Διατριβή Master Thesis 2022-08-312022enIn partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Technology and Innovation ManagementThe restaurant industry has long embraced technology, relying on POS and restocking platforms (i.e. virtual places which do not trade products but rather facilitate transactions between the supply market ends*) to leverage Web 2.0 apps and what comes along with it, like social media reviews (Yelp, Instagram) and ratings (TripAdvisor, e food etc.). Now, once again, the food industry begins to capitalize on the rise of the Gig Economy (also called O2O, Sharing or On-Demand economy) and its reshaping forms, as every country is gradually evolving, adopting this new technologically-imposed culture. Millennials increasingly search for flexible, part-time work and, according to the National Restaurant Association, the restaurants industry (which is a big part of the App’s target market) has a notably higher percentage of part-time workers than the broader workforce. This study reviews the existing literature and examines methods that sustain the optimization frameworks (usually referred to as platforms) that control the association between deliverers, goods and store owners in order to study ways to increase fairness and improve the working conditions of deliverers. Thus, as the title of the study suggests, the idea is to keep the Route Optimization Techniques per case, study the advantages and disadvantages that they bring to the table and advise for ways that a meritocratic but equal exploitation (fairness) of the emerging opportunities (here orders) can be beneficial (or marginally beneficial) to all actors, and especially the deliverers. For example, a deliverer nowadays works for a specific store (or branded fleet) sometimes distributing a specific set of goods, thus being restricted to work fixed hours at limited areas, receiving a limited salary. During the peak-hours the consumers anticipate the same quality of service which translates into stress for both the shop owners and the deliverers, especially now that the user-rating concept has been so immersive around transactions and more specifically, in this case, to the entirety of the food distribution process. The proposition is rhetorically constructed to complementarily contribute to the solutions offered in the respective literature, by paying special care to the democratization of the medium as seen from the deliverer’s point of view, in order to allow for a fair and equal chance for meritocratic access to all available facilities, and thus any potential profit. * ends here refer to the consumer/customer/requester/client on the demand side and the company/firm/producer/ /provider/merchant/restaurant/owner/server on the supplier side. These two ends meet through the deliverer/delivery executive/courier/driver/rider/agent/fleet/vehicle of the mediator workforce platform (dispatcher/aggregator). Master in Technology and Innovation Managementhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/Πολυτεχνείο Κρήτης::Σχολή Μηχανικών Παραγωγής και Διοίκησης Mandourarakis_Ioannis_MSc_2022.pdfChania [Greece]Library of TUC2022-08-30application/pdf2.5 MBfree Mandourarakis Ioannis Μανδουραρακης Ιωαννης Marinakis Ioannis Μαρινακης Ιωαννης Matsatsinis Nikolaos Ματσατσινης Νικολαος Tsafarakis Stelios Τσαφαρακης Στελιος Πολυτεχνείο Κρήτης Technical University of Crete Production and operations management Route optimization Vehicle route problems VRP Literature study Review Equality Meritocracy Digital transformation Electronic governance