Travelling Salesman’s Problem-Based Model Application for Mail Routing and Delivery with Minimal Cost

In ancient history, messages were hand-delivered using a variety of methods, including runners, homing pigeons, and riders on horseback. Before the introduction of mechanized courier services, foot messengers physically ran miles to their destinations. However, over the years, the employed methods have changed for the better, but not optimal enough. As in a traveling salesman problem, a delivery agent has a set of cities to visit, a set of parcels or goods of variable weight, a medium of movement, etc, with the specific objectives to minimize the cost of visiting the cities vis-a-vis the constraints. The problem was reduced to a graph problem and handled by linear programming. The researcher developed a model or a scenario whereby courier mail or goods can be delivered by touring cities, using the constraints available in courier services as in the traveling salesman problem. object-oriented design model was adopted for use. The researcher had to develop a platform, including the Google map tool to view the entire route spread depending on where the courier man intends to visit. The weight of the parcels, location for which the parcel(s) is to be delivered, medium of transport, amount to be paid, longitude, and latitude were also considered to estimate the cost-effectiveness of the dispatch. HTML was used to design the interface while javascript was used to code the system. The result of the study was very revealing as there were indications of the fact that dispatches were anticipated faster by 46% than before. The minimal cost was efficient enough with better optimality and the visual effects on graphs, gave encouraging perceptions for users.