Development of a Decision Making System for Installing Unmanned Parcel Lockers: Focusing on Residential Complexes in Korea

The distribution of unmanned parcel lockers is projected to proliferate nationwide significantly as it is promoted by the government for its potential to increase public safety and convenience. This study presents a decision making system that sequentially integrates the processes of finding potential locations, determining the number of locations, and selecting the optimal locations for effective installation of unmanned parcel lockers. First of all, the location requirements including the neighborhood, accessibility, and public facilities in the area are defined. Then, the number of locations and the optimal location are determined using the location set-covering model and the p-median model, respectively. The suitability and effectiveness of the decision making system are verified through an application to a residential complex located in Incheon Metropolitan City in Korea. This study provides guidelines and references for the effective implementation of distributing unmanned parcel lockers and contributes to prevention of violent crimes by impersonating a delivery person and the economic benefit from increased users of the parcel delivery service.