A simulated annealing-based approach for a real case study of vehicle routing problem with a heterogeneous fleet and time windows. (22nd January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bernal, Jose; Escobar, John Willmer; Linfati, Rodrigo
• Is Part Of: International journal of shipping and transport logistics. Volume 13:Number 1/2(2021)
• Page Start: 185
• Page End: 204
• Publication Date: 2021-01-22
• Subjects: vehicle routing -- heterogeneous fleet -- time windows -- meta-heuristic -- simulated annealing; Shipping -- Periodicals; Shipping -- Statistics; Logistics -- Periodicals; 387.5
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1756-6517

Abstract

We propose a meta-heuristic algorithm for addressing a real case of vehicle routing problem with a heterogeneous fleet and time windows. Our proposal consists of generating an initial feasible solution using the solution of a travelling salesman problem and, subsequently, refining it through simulated annealing. In this work, we evaluate the suitability of our development to planning the distribution of a regional distribution centre of a food company to customers within the urban perimeter of Cali, Colombia. Following the company's customer satisfaction goals, our primary aim is to route to reach a service level of 95% while reducing operational costs. Our results on our real case study show that our meta-heuristic algorithm finds better routes than current ones, in terms of costs and service levels, in a relatively short time.