Daniele Vigo is Full Professor of Operations Research at the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering of the University of Bologna and Visiting Professor at the Department of Information, Logistics and Innovation of the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. He is interested in the design of innovative algorithms for the solution of difficult decision and optimization problems arising in several applications fields ranging from Logistics to Energy Production and to Smart Cities. He is author of tens of scientific papers (in, among others Operations Research, European Journal of Operations Research, Management Science, Transportation Science, INFORMS Journal on Computing, Annals of OR, Discrete Applied Mathematics) and co-editor of some highly-cited books. He is president of the Italian OR society 2016-19 and coordinator of the EURO working group on Vehicle Routing and Logistics optimization.

Abstract. Last-mile delivery is a challenging arena for optimization where researchers and practitioners face large planning and operational problems with highly demanding requirements in terms of solution quality, flexibility and efficiency. We focus on the design of routing plans for distribution services and examine various important aspects that may impact their performance, such as the service area definition and the exploitation of outsourcing opportunities, as well as characteristics of the trips design which facilitate their implementation in practice.