Design of optimal e-commerce networks with autonomous airplanes to serve remote communities

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The use of autonomous airplanes has the potential to revolutionize the future of supply chain and logistics systems. This research will optimize the design of e-commerce networks using autonomous airplanes to efficiently serve remote communities in Canada through collaboration with the industrial partner Ribbit, the University of Waterloo, and Western University. The research goals are to (i) collect data to estimate the current and forecasted spatial distribution of demand for e-commerce goods in remote communities, (ii) design a holistic optimization model for e-commerce fulfillment networks using autonomous airplanes, (iii) develop an efficient solution methodology that can solve real-sized large-scale instances of this optimization model, and (iv) perform sensitivity and what-if analyses on how optimal network design and transportation choices change with respect to changes in the input parameters. The project outcomes will reduce the operational costs of serving remote communities and will make these communities more accessible. It will also advance the in-house optimization and analytics capabilities of the partner company Ribbit and provide opportunities for them to expand their service networks utilizing autonomous airplanes to serve the rest of Canada.