Prediction of Service Time for Home Delivery Services

Abstract

With the rise of ready-to-assemble furniture, driven by international giants like IKEA, came the rise of assembly services, sold separately but offered by the same retailers. Today, almost all large furniture stores offer to assemble bought furniture in a customers home at a premium (Inter IKEA Systems B.V., 2020) (Möbel Pfister AG,2020) (Micasa, 2020). When planning and dispatching orders with assembly services like this, the estimation of the time required for the service adds an extra layer of complexity compared to the standard delivery of packages or mail to the front door. Assembling large wardrobes or kitchens can take hours or even days, whilst the assembly of a chair or a bed might be finished within a couple of minutes. Combined with the vast amounts of products that can be ordered from any given retailer, a lot of knowledge is required to plan efficient and exact delivery routes....