Delivery area setting method and system according to delivery type

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of setting a delivery zone according to a delivery type and a system therefor. Specifically, the method of setting a delivery zone according to a delivery type of the present invention includes the steps of: setting a first delivery zone on the basis of geographical data and delivery data; generating base order data for the set first delivery zone; and setting a second delivery zone according to the delivery type by executing a genetic algorithm on the generated base order data.

Description

DELIVERY AREA SETTING METHOD AND SYSTEM ACCORDING TO DELIVERY TYPE

[0001] The present invention relates to a method of setting a delivery zone according to a delivery type and a system therefor, and more specifically, to a method of setting a delivery zone according to a delivery type and a system therefor, which can effectively improve delivery quality of various delivery methods by setting a delivery zone suitable for a delivery type on the basis of geographical characteristics and delivery data.

[0002] Delivery service refers to a service of delivering mail, luggage, items, and the like to a location requested by a customer. In modern society where online shopping is popular, delivery service may be one of important services in that people may easily receive items they need. The delivery service includes a process of collecting corresponding items from persons who send the items, sorting the collected items by delivery regions, and assigning the sorted items to a plurality of delivery workers to deliver the items to persons who receive the items, and in order to provide faster delivery services to customers, delivery companies deeply think and make a lot of efforts to efficiently handle these processes.

[0003] Generally, delivery companies manage and assign delivery zones for each delivery worker on the basis of administrative districts. This allows the delivery companies to provide more efficient delivery services by setting delivery zones considering average volume or the like in each delivery zone, and delivery workers may provide faster delivery services as they deliver only the items within the delivery zones assigned to the delivery workers since they are familiar with road conditions, routes, customer tendencies, and the like within the delivery zones.

[0004] However, as the delivery service types are diversified recently, such as same-day delivery, early morning delivery, and the like, it is difficult to provide delivery services of a quality satisfied by customers with only existing delivery zone allocation methods. That is, in order to provide various types of delivery services, delivery zones should be set by considering various factors, such as whether a corresponding region is a region where delivery is possible at a specific time, whether a region has a large number of customers who request a specific type of delivery service, and the like. However, the conventional method of setting delivery zones based on administrative districts and quantity of items has a problem in that it is difficult to provide various types of delivery services.

[0005] In other words, conventional methods of setting delivery zones have a limitation in that they may not be suitable for effectively providing various types of delivery services such as same-day delivery, early morning delivery, and the like, and accordingly, the present invention has been proposed in consideration of such problems, and invented to provide a delivery zone setting method based on data, which can set a delivery zone suitable for a delivery service type desired by a customer. In addition, the present invention has been invented to provide additional technical elements that cannot be easily invented by those skilled in the art.

[0006] (Patent Document 1) Republic of Korea Registered Patent No. 10-2559618 (Registered on July 20, 2023)

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide a method of setting a delivery zone according to a delivery type and a system therefor, which can set a delivery zone suitable for various types of delivery by setting the delivery zone on the basis of geographical characteristics and delivery data that affect delivery service.

[0008] In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a method of setting a delivery zone according to a delivery type and a system therefor, which can effectively improve delivery quality of various delivery methods and thus enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty, by setting a delivery zone suitable for a delivery type on the basis of data.

[0009] Meanwhile, the technical problems of the present invention are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and unmentioned other technical problems may be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

[0010] To accomplish the objects, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of setting a delivery zone according to a delivery type, the method comprising the steps of: setting a first delivery zone on the basis of geographical data and delivery data; generating base order data for the set first delivery zone; and setting a second delivery zone according to the delivery type by executing a genetic algorithm on the generated base order data.

[0011] In addition, in the delivery zone setting method according to an embodiment of the present invention, the step of setting a first delivery zone includes the steps of: collecting geographical data and delivery data needed for setting the delivery zone; preprocessing the collected geographical data and delivery data to be used for setting the delivery zone; and setting the first delivery zone on the basis of the preprocessed geographical data and delivery data.

[0012] In addition, in the delivery zone setting method according to an embodiment of the present invention, the geographical data includes at least one among road network information, traffic situation information, administrative district information, and boundary line information between administrative districts, and the delivery data includes at least one among departure point information, destination information, delivery type information, and delivery vehicle information.

[0013] In addition, in the delivery zone setting method according to an embodiment of the present invention, the step of preprocessing the geographical data and the delivery data is performed to infer a process of moving for delivery on the basis of administrative district information of the geographical data and boundary line information between the administrative districts.

[0014] In addition, in the delivery zone setting method according to an embodiment of the present invention, the step of setting a first delivery zone is performed in a way that the first delivery zone is set to include subzones configured of at least one basic zone, and the basic zones configured as one subzone are set to be adjacent to each other while being in contact with a boundary line.

[0015] In addition, in the delivery zone setting method according to an embodiment of the present invention, the step of generating base order data for the first delivery zone selects some order data among a plurality of order data in the first delivery zone and generates the selected order data as the base order data, and is performed to generate the base order data according to at least one condition selected among a delivery type, a specific day of a week, a specific climate, a specific time zone, and a date with high or low order volume.

[0016] In addition, in the delivery zone setting method according to an embodiment of the present invention, at the step of setting a second delivery zone by executing a genetic algorithm, the genetic algorithm includes a process of generating-mutating-replacing offspring populations, which is performed after generating a parent population for the base order data, and the process is repeatedly performed until a preset reference value is satisfied.

[0017] In addition, in the delivery zone setting method according to an embodiment of the present invention, the genetic algorithm is repeatedly performed until at least one condition, among a fitness evaluation for the generated populations, the number of specific populations, and the number of mutations, satisfies the preset reference value.

[0018] On the other hand, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system including a central processing unit and a memory for setting a delivery zone according to a delivery type, the system comprising: a data collection unit for collecting geographical data and delivery data needed for setting the delivery zone; a data preprocessing unit for preprocessing the collected geographical data and delivery data to be used for setting the delivery zone; a calculation unit for setting a first delivery zone on the basis of the preprocessed geographical data and delivery data; and an order data generation unit for generating base order data for the set first delivery zone, wherein the calculation unit sets a second delivery zone according to the delivery type by executing a genetic algorithm on the base order data generated by the order data generation unit.

[0019] In addition, in the delivery zone setting system according to an embodiment of the present invention, the calculation unit executes the genetic algorithm including a process of generating-mutating-replacing offspring populations, which is performed after generating a parent population for the base order data, and the genetic algorithm is repeatedly performed until a preset reference value is satisfied.

[0020] As the present invention may set a delivery zone suitable for various types of delivery by setting the delivery zone on the basis of geographical characteristics and delivery data that affect delivery service, an effect of improving quality of delivery service can be expected.

[0021] In addition, as the present invention effectively improves delivery quality of various delivery methods by setting a delivery zone suitable for a delivery type on the basis of data, an effect of improving customer satisfaction and loyalty to delivery service can be expected.

[0022] Meanwhile, the effects of the present invention are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and unmentioned other technical effects will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

[0023] FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a delivery zone setting method of the present invention.

[0024] FIG. 2 is a flowchart more specifically illustrating the step of setting a first delivery zone in the delivery zone setting method of the present invention.

[0025] FIG. 3 is a view showing a first delivery zone that is set according to the delivery zone setting method of the present invention.

[0026] FIG. 4 is a flowchart more specifically illustrating a genetic algorithm process for setting a second delivery zone in the delivery zone setting method of the present invention.

[0027] FIG. 5 is a view exemplarily showing a result of setting a second delivery zone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] FIG. 6 is a block diagram for explaining the delivery zone setting system of the present invention.

[0029] Details of the objects and technical configurations of the present invention and operational effects according thereto will be more clearly understood by the following detailed description based on the drawings attached in the specification of the present invention. An embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0030] The embodiments disclosed in this specification should not be construed or used as limiting the scope of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, it is natural that the description including the embodiments of the present specification have various applications. Accordingly, any embodiments described in the detailed description of the present invention are illustrative for better describing of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to the embodiments.

[0031] The functional blocks shown in the drawings and described below are merely examples of possible implementations. Other functional blocks may be used in other implementations without departing from the spirit and scope of the detailed description. In addition, although one or more functional blocks of the present invention are expressed as separate blocks, one or more of the functional blocks of the present invention may be combinations of various hardware and software configurations that perform the same function.

[0032] In addition, the expressions including certain components are expressions of "open type" and only refer to existence of corresponding components, and should not be construed as excluding additional components.

[0033] Furthermore, when a certain component is referred to as being "connected" or "coupled" to another component, it may be directly connected or coupled to another component, but it should be understood that other components may exist in between.

[0034] FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a delivery zone setting method of the present invention.

[0035] As illustrated in FIG. 1, a method of the present invention for setting a delivery zone according to a delivery type comprises: a step of setting a first delivery zone on the basis of geographical data and delivery data (S100); a step of generating base order data for the set first delivery zone (S200); and a step of setting a second delivery zone according to a delivery type by executing a genetic algorithm on the generated base order data (S300).

[0036] Here, unlike conventional methods of setting delivery zones simply based on administrative districts and quantity of items, the present invention sets a first delivery zone on the basis of geographical data including at least one among road network information, traffic situation information, administrative district information, and boundary line information between administrative districts, and delivery data including at least one among departure point information, destination information, delivery type information, and delivery vehicle information, generates order data as a base for the first delivery zone set in this manner, and sets a second delivery zone by performing a genetic algorithm thereon.

[0037] In this way, the present invention may set a first delivery zone on the basis of geographical data and delivery data that actually affect the delivery quality and delivery type of delivery workers, and set a second delivery zone by performing a genetic algorithm on the base order data of the first delivery zone until a predetermined reference value is satisfied, and therefore, an effect of setting an optimal delivery zone suitable for various delivery types desired by a customer can be expected.

[0038] In addition, the present invention may update and renew actual result values of delivery service performed according to the delivery zone set in this way, and may perform the delivery zone setting method of the present invention periodically or non-periodically on the basis of the updated actual result values, and therefore, another effect of setting an optimal delivery zone suitable for various delivery types desired by a customer at any time while minimizing the influence of unexpected variables can be expected in the present invention.

[0039] Hereinafter, the delivery zone setting method according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

[0040] FIG. 2 is a flowchart more specifically illustrating the step of setting a first delivery zone in the delivery zone setting method of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the step of setting a first delivery zone on the basis of geographical data and delivery data (S100) in the delivery zone setting method of the present invention includes a preprocessing process of collecting and processing data needed for setting the first delivery zone.

[0041] Referring to FIG. 2, the step of setting a first delivery zone (S100) may be implemented to include a step of collecting geographical data and delivery data needed for setting the delivery zone (S110), a step of preprocessing the collected geographical data and order data to be used for setting the delivery zone (S120), and a step of setting the first delivery zone on the basis of the preprocessed geographical data and order data (S130).

[0042] First, the step of collecting geographical data and delivery data (S110) is a process of collecting data needed for setting the first delivery zone, and the geographical data may include at least one among road network information, traffic situation information, administrative district information, and boundary line information between administrative districts, and the delivery data may include at least one among departure point information, destination information, delivery type information, and delivery vehicle information.

[0043] Here, the present invention includes a process of collecting spatial data information generated through a geographic information system (GIS) and geographical data including information that actually affect delivery among the spatial data information of the GIS. For example, the geographical data may include road network information including the distance of each road section, travel speed reflecting traffic situation in each time zone, one-way traffic reflecting traffic laws, travel restriction information at intersections, and the like, and boundary data information of basic space unit with regard to distribution of population and buildings in urban areas of high population density, in addition to regional information divided according to administrative districts.

[0044] In addition, the present invention includes a process of collecting delivery data including information on vehicles used for delivery (load capacity, loadable items, vehicle volume, travelable distance, etc.), delivery routes, and information on various types of delivery, and the delivery data may include actual order information within a corresponding region and / or some information among the order information.

[0045] Next, after the step of collecting geographical data and delivery data (S110), the step of preprocessing the collected geographical data and delivery data (S120) is performed. The step of preprocessing the geographical data and delivery data (S120) means a step of processing the collected geographical data and delivery data into a needed form that can be used for setting the first delivery zone, and may include a process of separating and removing unnecessary data from the collected data to extract only necessary data, and converting, integrating, and combining the extracted data to be suitable for the purpose (setting the first delivery zone according to a delivery type).

[0046] For example, the step of preprocessing the geographical data and delivery data (S120) may be performed to preprocess data so that a process of moving for delivery can be inferred on the basis of administrative district information of the geographical data and boundary line information between the administrative districts, and may be performed to preprocess data so that a delivery service can be provided according to a delivery type desired by a customer to some extent on the basis of order information, vehicle information, delivery type information, and the like of the delivery data, and further, may be performed to preprocess the geographical data and delivery data that actually affect delivery service (delivery time, delivery route, etc.) in the form of independent data or / and mutually combined composite data in order to set a first delivery zone.

[0047] That is, the present invention includes a step of collecting geographical data and delivery data that actually affect delivery service (delivery time, delivery route, etc.) in order to set a first delivery zone (S110), and a step of preprocessing the collected geographical data and delivery data (S120). Through this, unlike conventional methods that simply assign regions divided according to administrative districts on the basis of delivery quantity, the present invention may set a first delivery zone according to various delivery types by utilizing geographical data and delivery data collected and preprocessed in an appropriate form.

[0048] After the step of preprocessing the geographical data and delivery data (S120), the step of setting the first delivery zone (S130) is performed based on the preprocessed geographical data and delivery data. The step of setting the first delivery zone (S130) may be performed in a way that the first delivery zone is set to include subzones configured of at least one basic zone, and the basic zones configured as one subzone are set to be adjacent to each other while being in contact with a boundary line.

[0049] The basic zone is a minimum unit classified in setting a delivery zone, and it is a region classified by assigning a postal code according to classification of administrative districts designated by the government, and may mean, for example, a minimum regional unit that is applied when classifying items at a delivery terminal. The subzone is an upper classification unit of the basic zone, and it is a zone for assigning delivery items, which includes the basic zones, and may mean, for example, a regional unit written on an invoice attached to a delivery item. The delivery zone is an upper classification unit of a subzone and includes the subzones, and may mean a designated zone exclusively assigned to a delivery worker.

[0050] However, definitions of these basic zones and subzones are described only as some embodiments to help understanding of the present invention and are not interpreted to be limited thereto, and it should be interpreted that users may change and apply the definitions and numbers thereof as relative lower or upper units in setting and using delivery zones.

[0051] Conventionally, basic zones and subzones for setting delivery zones are randomly generated and set on the basis of regional classification information included in administrative district information, but in the present invention, basic zones, subzones, and first delivery zones may be set by utilizing an optimization model that satisfies the constraints described below.

[0052] Constraint(1)All basic zones should be included in one subzoneConstraint (2)A subzone should be configured of at least one basic zoneConstraint (3)Basic zones configured as one subzone should be adjacent to each other while being in contact with a physical boundary line

[0053] The optimization mathematical model utilized to establish a first delivery zone satisfying the constraints and description of symbols used in the mathematical model are as shown below.

[0054]

[0055]

[0056] Objective function (1) of the mathematical model is set to minimize the difference of expected work time between subzones, objective function (2) is set as a condition of a meaning that one basic zone should be included only in one subzone, and objective function (3) is set as a condition of a meaning that one subzone should include at least one basic zone. In addition, objective functions (4) to (7) are set to satisfy the adjacency constraint of subzones, and through corresponding functions, the present invention prevents a delivery zone from being configured of basic zones that are not adjacent to each other. That is, corresponding objective functions generate a virtual flow between adjacent basic zones to confirm whether adjacency constraint (3) - [basic zones configured as one subzone should be adjacent to each other while being in contact with a physical boundary line] is satisfied. Remaining objective functions (8) to (10) are binary and non-zero constraints for normal operation of the mathematical model.

[0057] Here, one of key features of the mathematical model is the definition of 'adjacency' for evaluating connectivity between the basic zones. There is a constraint requesting that basic zones should be physically adjacent to each other to form a subzone, but considering the characteristics of delivery works in which delivery vehicles move along the road network within the subzone, the connectivity between the basic zones should take into account factors more than physical adjacency.

[0058] For example, even in the case of basic zones in contact with a boundary line, when a railroad is installed along the boundary line, it is difficult to evaluate the connectivity high since a delivery vehicle may have to go around a considerable distance to cross the boundary line between the two zones. Since topographical features such as mountains, artificial structures such as railroads, and the shape of road networks that affect the operation of delivery vehicles may affect the connectivity between the basic zones, it is preferable to set a first delivery zone in consideration of these factors in the present invention.

[0059] That is, the present invention determines the neighboring relationship between the basic zones as follows. First, the basic zones should be in contact with the boundary line, but this excludes cases where the boundary line is shared only in an extremely small area, as small as to make the operation of delivery vehicles inefficient. Second, the shortest travel time on the road network is calculated on the basis of the center point of each basic zone, and difference between the travel distance and the sum of the straight-line distances connecting the central points of the basic zones must be less than or equal to a predetermined reference value. When the travel distance exceeds the predetermined reference value, it is determined as a long distance that should be detoured due to the influence of terrain features or the like, and thus it is determined as non-neighboring. Third, center points of locations demanded in the past and existing in the basic zone are used, rather than the simple center of gravity, as the center point of each basic zone. This is to reflect the spatial pattern of demand distribution in a corresponding basic zone.

[0060] FIG. 3 is a view showing a first delivery zone that is set according to the delivery zone setting method of the present invention.

[0061] As shown in FIG. 3, all basic zones ⓐ are included in one subzone, and the subzone is configured of at least one basic zone ⓐ, and the basic zones ⓐ configured as one subzone are adjacent to each other while being in contact with a boundary line, and the first delivery zones are set to include the subzones. The basic zones ⓐ, subzones, and first delivery zones are set through the mathematical model described above, and may be different from the simple geographical information of administrative districts. For reference, in FIG. 3, the first delivery zone is indicated by a thick solid line, the subzones by a thin solid line, and the basic zones by a dotted line.

[0062] That is, although basic zones are in contact with a boundary line in an administrative district, the delivery route of delivery worker may be affected as there are natural / artificial structures, such as terrain features or railroads near the boundary line, or it is difficult to operate delivery vehicles. However, as the present invention sets a first delivery zone on the basis of geographical data and delivery data reflecting even these cases, a delivery zone may be set according to an actual delivery type.

[0063] In addition, the present invention may set basic zones ⓐ, subzones, and first delivery zones on the basis of accumulated past delivery data, and further, may set the zones according to various conditions, such as by the number of delivery cases, by the type of delivery, by the characteristics of delivery workers, and by the delivery route, and through this, there is an effect in that a user may set an optimized first delivery zone in a flexible manner to satisfy the quality of delivery service desired by the customer.

[0064] In addition, the mathematical model of the present invention may also apply the Traveling salesman problem with time window (TSPTW), and this may assume a closed path in which the delivery vehicle returns to the starting point after completing the delivery, or a path along which the delivery vehicle moves to another destination without returning to the starting point after completing the delivery, and may also flexibly reflect attributes of delivery vehicles (vehicle type, allowed cargo capacity, working hours of delivery time, etc.).

[0065] In other words, the purpose of the mathematical model used in the present invention is to set a first delivery zone that balances both the total delivery time and the delivery volume, and for this purpose, it is also possible to use the total delivery time that indirectly reflects the delivery volume, and the mathematical model may be set to minimize the total sum of the difference between subzones in the delivery time taken to deliver the delivery items within each subzone. In this case, since the number of items and the trend in the change of delivery cases may vary daily, an average or regular / irregular distribution for a predetermined period of time may be considered to more accurately reflect the actual number of delivery cases.

[0066] Referring to FIG. 1 again, after the step of setting a first delivery zone (S100), the step of generating base order data for the set first delivery zone (S200) is performed. The step of generating base order data for the first delivery zone (S200) may be performed in a way of selecting some order data among a plurality of order data in the first delivery zone and generating the selected order data as base order data.

[0067] Here, unlike conventional methods of simply distributing a quantity of delivery items according to administrative districts, since an object of the present invention is to set a delivery zone in which delivery items can be assigned by considering even the actual delivery time according to the delivery type on the basis of geographical data and delivery data that affect delivery, it is preferable to generate the base order data by selecting some of order data for the first delivery zone that is set on the basis of the geographical data and delivery data.

[0068] That is, according to the present invention, base order data is generated on the basis of the order data for the first delivery zone, and order data within a predetermined range, which is randomly selected from order data generated during a selected period in each basic zone, may be generated as base order data, and the base order data may be generated according to predetermined criteria selected by the user, for example, at least one condition selected among various criteria, such as a delivery type, a specific day of a week, a specific climate, a specific time zone, a date with high or low order volume, and the like.

[0069] At this point, the base order data may be generated by combining at least two criteria among the criteria selected by the user. For example, when it is desired to generate order data of 'early morning delivery' type among the delivery types, base order data may be generated by combining average order data and order data of early morning hours, and when it is desired to generate order data of 'same-day delivery' type, base order data may be generated by combining average order data and order data of a day / week with the largest order volume.

[0070] In other words, in the case of the present invention, as the base order data is generated by selecting some of order data randomly selected by the user and / or selected according to predetermined conditions among the order data for the first delivery zone set on the basis of geographical data and delivery data that actually affect the delivery time, an effect of setting an optimal second delivery zone according to a delivery type can be expected by deriving an optimized value closest to the actual delivery time when a second delivery zone performed in the future is set.

[0071] Next, after the step of generating base order data for the first delivery zone (S200), the step of setting a second delivery zone according to a delivery type by executing a genetic algorithm on the base order data (S300) is performed. The step of setting a second delivery zone (S300) is performed by executing a genetic algorithm using the generated base order data as a solution population to set an optimal second delivery zone through a fitness evaluation on the population of each generation.

[0072] FIG. 4 is a flowchart more specifically illustrating a genetic algorithm process for setting a second delivery zone in the delivery zone setting method of the present invention.

[0073] As illustrated in FIG. 4, a genetic algorithm (GA) is performed to set a second delivery zone. The genetic algorithm is an optimization algorithm based on natural evolution and genetic principles. In particular, in the present invention, the genetic algorithm may be performed in a way of satisfying the adjacency condition between the basic zones for setting an optimal delivery zone according to a delivery type. More specifically, the genetic algorithm includes a process of generating-mutating-replacing offspring populations, which is performed after generating a parent population for the base order data, and the process is repeatedly performed until a preset reference value is satisfied.

[0074] In process of performing the genetic algorithm, first, the parent population is generated as many as a predetermined number or randomly on the basis of the base order data, and the parent populations may be stored in the form of a list in which basic zones of a predetermined region are divided into a predetermined number of zones. Here, in the present invention, the parent populations are generated based on the basic zones constituting each first delivery zone, and the parent populations may be generated by integrating other basic zones connected to each core basic zone as many as a predetermined number.

[0075] Next, an offspring population is generated from the parent population through selection, division, and crossover. At this point, the selection, division, and crossover process for generating the offspring population may be performed randomly, but preferably, it may be performed in a direction of satisfying the adjacency condition described above. That is, in the genetic algorithm process of the present invention, the selection may be performed in a direction of maximizing the number of added delivery points while increase of delivery time is small, considering both the total delivery time that increases when corresponding basic zones are integrated and the number of delivery points existing in corresponding basic zones, and the adjacency constraints may be maintained in the process of generating offspring populations through division and crossover from the parent population and in the process of mutation and replacement.

[0076] Then, a mutation process is performed on the generated offspring populations. This is a process of the genetic algorithm for securing diversity of the populations, and mutation may be performed randomly. In the present invention, the offspring populations are tested with a mutation probability set in advance, and mutation may be performed on genes of a predetermined ratio for the offspring populations in which it is determined that mutation is generated.

[0077] Next, a replacement process of selecting a population that will be passed to the next generation is performed by integrating the offspring populations, in which the mutation process has been performed, and the parent populations. The replacement process may be performed in various ways, and in the present invention, the replacement process may be performed in a direction of preserving generation groups with an excellent evaluation value and maintaining diversity of each population group. For example, the replacement process is preferably performed to randomly integrate to secure the diversity of each population but not to reduce the number of total populations, and may be performed in various ways, such as integrating populations with an excellent evaluation value, or integrating populations with an excellent evaluation value and populations without an excellent evaluation value.

[0078] The process of generating, mutating, and replacing parent and descendant populations is repeated until a preset reference value is satisfied. The reference value is an element that can be set through an evaluation value for the populations, and in the present invention, it is preferable that the genetic algorithm is repeatedly performed until at least one condition, among the fitness evaluation for the generated populations, the number of specific populations, and the number of mutations, satisfies the preset reference value.

[0079] Meanwhile, the genetic algorithm described above may be performed in various ways of commonly used genetic algorithms. However, in the case of the present invention, it is performed in a way of satisfying the adjacency condition for setting a delivery zone suitable for a delivery type, that is, not simply applying a classification system based on administrative districts as it is, but in a way of setting a delivery zone suitable for a delivery type by reflecting geographical data or delivery data that actually affect the delivery distance or delivery time.

[0080] FIG. 5 is a view exemplarily showing a result of setting a second delivery zone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0081] Referring to FIG. 5, a result of setting a first delivery zone on the basis of geographical data and delivery data and generating an optimal second delivery zone as a result of a genetic algorithm repeatedly performed on the first delivery zone are shown as an example. As shown in FIG. 5, as a result of performing a process of setting the first and second delivery zones targeting basic zones within a predetermined range designated by the user, it is possible to set an optimal delivery zone that can minimize the difference in delivery volume and delivery time between delivery workers according to the delivery types of delivery orders occurring within a corresponding range.

[0082] That is, unlike conventional methods of simply setting a delivery zone on the basis of the quantity of items according to a system of classifying regions on administrative districts, as the present invention may set a first delivery zone on the basis of geographical data and delivery data that actually affect the delivery distance, delivery time, delivery route, and the like, and set a second delivery zone by repeatedly performing a genetic algorithm thereon until a predetermined reference value is satisfied, an optimal delivery zone can be set according to a delivery type desired by the customer.

[0083] In addition, since the present invention may receive feedback on the results of actual delivering items by delivery workers according to the second delivery zone set in this way, periodically or non-periodically update and store fed-back delivery result values, and utilize the fed-back delivery result values as data in the delivery zone setting method according to the embodiment of the present invention described above, the present invention may expect another effect of performing a delivery zone setting method on the basis of relatively up-to-date data, in which errors from the actual delivery result values are minimized.

[0084] Hereinafter, a system in which the delivery zone setting method of the present invention can be implemented will be described with reference to FIG. 6. However, duplicate contents in the description about the delivery zone setting method of the present invention described above in FIGS. 1 to 5 may be omitted, and this is not intentionally excluded from the embodiments of the delivery zone setting system of the present invention, but omitted since they are duplicated with the contents described above.

[0085] FIG. 6 is a block diagram for explaining the delivery zone setting system of the present invention.

[0086] As shown in FIG. 6, a system 100 including a central processing unit and a memory for setting a delivery zone according to a delivery type includes a data collection unit 110 for collecting geographical data and delivery data needed for setting the delivery zone, a data preprocessing unit 120 for preprocessing the collected geographical data and delivery data to be used for setting the delivery zone, a calculation unit 130 for setting a first delivery zone on the basis of the preprocessed geographical data and delivery data, and an order data generation unit 140 for generating base order data for the set first delivery zone.

[0087] The delivery zone setting system 100 may be hardware or software actually provided to execute the method of setting a delivery zone according to a delivery type of the present invention, and may be implemented as a single server computer, or may be a form organically connecting a plurality of server computers through a network. In addition, the delivery zone setting system 100 may be implemented as a hardware component, a software component, and / or a combination of hardware components and software components, and may be implemented using one or more general-purpose computers or special-purpose computers, such as, for example, a processor, a controller, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), a digital signal processor, a microcomputer, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic unit (PLU), a microprocessor, and any other devices capable of executing and responding to instructions.

[0088] The central processing unit may also access, store, handle, process, and generate data in response to execution of the software. Although it is described that one processing device is used in some cases for convenience of understanding, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the processing device may include a plurality of processing elements and / or a plurality of types of processing elements. For example, the processing device may include a plurality of processors, or one processor and one controller. In addition, other processing configurations, such as parallel processors, are also possible.

[0089] The delivery zone setting system 100 may be connected to at least one terminal and / or another network using a wired or wireless communication network through the configuration of a communication unit (not shown), and transmit and receive data to and from each other through the network. However, the network connection method and the data transmission and reception method are not limited to the embodiments of the present invention. In addition, the delivery zone setting system 100 may transmit and receive or store data preprocessed or used in the system 100 through the configuration of a memory unit (not shown), and the memory unit may be a component included in the system 100 or various storage media connected to the system 100 through a wired or wireless communication network. However, the type or number of memory units, the data storage / management method, and the like are not limited to the embodiments of the present invention.

[0090] Here, according to the present invention, the geographical data and delivery data collected from the data collection unit 110 are preprocessed through the data preprocessing unit 120, and the calculation unit 130 may set a first delivery zone on the basis of the preprocessed geographical data and delivery data. That is, the present invention may set the first delivery zone on the basis of geographical data and actual delivery data that affect delivery service, instead of a delivery zone allocation method that simply classifying regions on administrative districts by the quantity of delivery items.

[0091] In addition, according to the present invention, when base order data for the first delivery zone is generated by the order data generation unit 140, the calculation unit 130 may set a second delivery zone according to a delivery type by executing a genetic algorithm on the base order data. That is, in the present invention, the calculation unit 130 executes a genetic algorithm including a process of generating-mutating-replacing offspring populations after generating a parent population for the base order data, and as the genetic algorithm is repeatedly performed until a preset reference value is satisfied, an optimal delivery zone may be set according to a delivery type desired by a customer.

[0092] Meanwhile, although it is shown in FIG. 6 that the calculation unit 130 is a component included in the delivery zone setting system 100 of the present invention, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the calculation unit 130 may be a separate component connected to the delivery zone setting system 100 through a wired or wireless communication network, or may be hardware or software of a third server, system, or the like controlled by the delivery zone setting system 100, and the embodiments of the present invention may be interpreted to include all embodiments in which a method of setting a delivery zone according to a delivery type on the basis of geographical data and delivery data can be executed.

[0093] A method of setting a delivery zone according to a delivery type and a system therefor of the present invention have been described above. Meanwhile, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments and application examples described above, and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the gist of the present invention claimed in the claims, and these modifications should not be understood as being distinguished from the technical spirit or prospect of the present invention.

[0094] 100: Delivery zone setting system 110: Data collection unit 120: Data preprocessing unit 130: Calculation unit 140: Order data generation unit

Claims

1.A method of setting a delivery zone according to a delivery type, the method comprising the steps of:setting a first delivery zone on the basis of geographical data and delivery data;generating base order data for the set first delivery zone; andsetting a second delivery zone according to the delivery type by executing a genetic algorithm on the generated base order data.2.The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of setting a first delivery zone includes the steps of:collecting geographical data and delivery data needed for setting the delivery zone;preprocessing the collected geographical data and delivery data to be used for setting the delivery zone; andsetting the first delivery zone on the basis of the preprocessed geographical data and delivery data.3.The method according to claim 2, wherein the geographical data includes at least one among road network information, traffic situation information, administrative district information, and boundary line information between administrative districts, and the delivery data includes at least one among departure point information, destination information, delivery type information, and delivery vehicle information.4.The method according to claim 3, wherein the step of preprocessing the geographical data and the delivery data is performed to infer a process of moving for delivery on the basis of administrative district information of the geographical data and boundary line information between the administrative districts.5.The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of setting a first delivery zone is performed in a way that the first delivery zone is set to include subzones configured of at least one basic zone, and the basic zones configured as one subzone are set to be adjacent to each other while being in contact with a boundary line.6.The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of generating base order data for the first delivery zone selects some order data among a plurality of order data in the first delivery zone and generates the selected order data as the base order data, and is performed to generate the base order data according to at least one condition selected among a delivery type, a specific day of a week, a specific climate, a specific time zone, and a date with high or low order volume.7.The method according to claim 1, wherein at the step of setting a second delivery zone by executing a genetic algorithm, the genetic algorithm includes a process of generating-mutating-replacing offspring populations, which is performed after generating a parent population for the base order data, and the process is repeatedly performed until a preset reference value is satisfied.8.The method according to claim 7, wherein the genetic algorithm is repeatedly performed until at least one condition, among a fitness evaluation for the generated populations, the number of specific populations, and the number of mutations, satisfies the preset reference value.9.A system including a central processing unit and a memory for setting a delivery zone according to a delivery type, the system comprising:a data collection unit for collecting geographical data and delivery data needed for setting the delivery zone;a data preprocessing unit for preprocessing the collected geographical data and delivery data to be used for setting the delivery zone;a calculation unit for setting a first delivery zone on the basis of the preprocessed geographical data and delivery data; andan order data generation unit for generating base order data for the set first delivery zone, whereinthe calculation unit sets a second delivery zone according to the delivery type by executing a genetic algorithm on the base order data generated by the order data generation unit.10.The system according to claim 9, wherein the calculation unit executes the genetic algorithm including a process of generating-mutating-replacing offspring populations, which is performed after generating a parent population for the base order data, and the genetic algorithm is repeatedly performed until a preset reference value is satisfied.

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