A simulated annealing-based approach for a real case study of vehicle routing problem with a heterogeneous fleet and time windows
by Jose Bernal; John Willmer Escobar; Rodrigo Linfati
International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics (IJSTL), Vol. 13, No. 1/2, 2021

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.

Online publication date: Tue, 09-Feb-2021

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