yanlu.zhao@durham.ac.uk
(+44)-1913345314

Curriculum Vitae

Yanlu Zhao is an associate professor in Operations Management at Durham University Business School. His research and teaching focus on data-driven service operations and supply chain management. He has published in several academic journals such as Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, Transportation Science, Production and Operations Management, European Journal of Operational Research, IISE Transactions, INFORMS Journal on Computing, Omega, and regularly presents his research at international conferences in Europe, Asia, and the United States. He received his doctoral degree from ESSEC Business School in France, and he also holds a master degree in management science and engineering from Tsinghua University, China. In 2019, he visited the Institute of Operations Research and Analytics (IORA) at National University of Singapore as a research scholar.  In 2022, he won the ESSEC Foundation PhD award. In 2024, he was on research leave to visit the Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies in Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Work Experience

  • Associate Professor, Durham University Business School, 2024.07 – present
  • Assistant Professor, Durham University Business School, 2020.09 – 2024.06
  • Research Fellow (sabbatical), Hong Kong PolyU Faculty of Business, 2023.12 – 2024.04

Education

  • PhD in operations management, ESSEC Business School, France
  • Visiting PhD at IORA, National University of Singapore, Singapore
  • Master in management and engineering science, Tsinghua University
  • Bachelor in management, Shandong University of Finance and Economics

Research Interests

  • Methods: Mixed-integer programming, Markov decision process, Dynamic programming, Queue theory, Machine learning
  • Applications: Supply chain management and data-driven service operations, including online platforms (matching, scheduling, and routing), smart logistics and sustainable operations, network optimization and optimization of healthcare systems (appointment scheduling and routing).

Working Paper

  • “Navigating Turbulence with Resi-LLM: A Machine Learning Approach in Predicting and Strengthening Global Automotive Supply Chains Resilience” (with X. Li and L. Ding), working paper (Oct 2024, under review)
  • “Online Luxury Retailing with Authentication: Honesty, Distinguishability and Misauthentication” (with B. Liu), working paper (Oct 2024, under review)
  • “An Index Policy for Routing Agricultural Machinery Repairs” (with Y. Yao and L. Ding), working paper, (Nov 2024, under review)

Work-in-progress

  • “Heuristics for call-center-based time slots management of field visits” (with F. Papier)

Academic Publications

  • “Flexible Capacity Rationing in Consignment-selling Cold Warehouse” (with W. Liu, Y. Sha, B. Liu), International Journal of Production Research, (2025).
  • “Stochastic scheduling and routing decisions in online meal delivery platforms with mixed force” (with L. Alfandari and C. Archetti), European Journal of Operational Research, (2024).
  • “Last-mile attended home healthcare service: A robust strategy to mitigate cascading delays and ensure punctual care delivery” (with M. Liu and X. Xie), Production and Operations Management (2024).
  • “Unravelling the carbon emissions compliance in sustainable supply chains: The impacts of carbon audit cooperation” (with H. Fu, Y. Lei, S. Zhang and K. Zhao), Omega (2024)
  • “Market thickness in online food delivery platforms: The impact of food processing times” (with F. Papier and C.P. Teo), Manufacturing and Service Operations Management (2024).
  • “Unified framework for choice-based facility location problem” (with Y. Lin and Q. Tian), INFORMS Journal on Computing (2024).
  • “Synchronized deliveries with a bike and a self-driving robot” (with D. Cattaruzza, N. Kang and R. Roberti), Transportation Science (2023).
  • “Continuity-skill-restricted scheduling and routing problem: Formulation, optimization and implications” (with M. Liu and X. Xie), IISE Transactions (2023). (2025 IISE Transactions Supply Chain & Logistics Best Application Paper)
  • “Locating facilities under competition and market expansion: Formulation, optimization, and implications” (with Y. Lin and Q. Tian), Production and Operations Management (2022).
  • “A branch-and-cut algorithm for the Edge Interdiction Clique Problem” (with F. Furini, I. Ljubic, P. San Segundo), European Journal of Operational Research (2021).
  • “Design of diversified package tours for the digital travel industry A branch-cut-and-price approach” (with L. Alfandari), European Journal of Operational Research (2020).
  • “Risk management on joint product development with power asymmetry between supplier and manufacturer” (with H. Cao) International Journal of Project Management (2015).

Teaching

  • Business Analytics (Full-Time MBA)
  • Decision Science and Analytics in Energy Business Management (Master)
  • Strategic Business and Engineering Project (Master)
  • Operations and Supply Chain Management (Master)
  • Data Analytics for Strategic Decision Making (Master)
  • Operations Management (Undergraduate)
  • Business Analytics (Undergraduate)
  • Simulations in Operations Management (Undergraduate)

Miscellaneous

Service

Activities

  • 2025. 06, VeRoLog Annual Meeting, Trento
  • 2025. 01, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei
  • 2025. 01, POMS-HK, Hong Kong
  • 2024. 12, Renmin University Business School, Beijing
  • 2024. 10, INFORMS Annual Conference, Seattle
  • 2024. 09, ORSC (Data Science and Operations Intelligence), Beijing
  • 2024. 09, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, online
  • 2024. 08, SouthEast University, Nanjing
  • 2024. 07, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan
  • 2024. 07, CSAMSE 2024, Xiamen
  • 2024. 07, EURO 2024 CPH, Copenhagen
  • 2024. 06, 8th Stochastic Modelling Meeting (STOCHMOD 2024), Milan