This study investigates a real-time vehicle-dispatching system for the milk run service. System architecture
is presented and the system parameters are examined. The results of the experiments suggest that the system
can perform well when both an initial vehicle dispatching module and an inter-route improvement module are
used. The contribution of this paper to the literature is that the Best Fit algorithm for initial vehicle dispatch
and the 2-Exchange algorithm for inter-route improvement are most suitable for the real-time system. How-
ever, it is recognized that during the implementation stage since factors are controlled by different parties, i.e.
customers, service providers, and others, the optimum parameter mix may be difficult to find.
The real-time dispatching system can be used in areas other than the milk run service, such as a virtual
warehouse that uses a distribution centre as a warehouse for a group of companies. The system can also be
applied to the crossdocking service, in which coordination between resources is the focal point. In an appli-
cation such as this, certain constraints need to be released. For example, pickup goods can be delivered
directly. If the dispatching system is used in a supply chain network, it should be noted that there are depen-
dent relationships between orders. A forecasting capability for supply chain orders should be included.