Title: A simulated annealing-based approach for a real case study of vehicle routing problem with a heterogeneous fleet and time windows

Authors: Jose Bernal; John Willmer Escobar; Rodrigo Linfati

Addresses: Universitat de Girona, Girona 17006, Girona, Spain ' Department of Accounting and Finance, Universidad del Valle, Cali 76002, Colombia ' Departamento de Ingeniería Industrial, Universidad del Bío-Bío, Concepción 3349001, Chile

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.

Keywords: vehicle routing; heterogeneous fleet; time windows; meta-heuristic; simulated annealing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTL.2021.112923

International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics, 2021 Vol.13 No.1/2, pp.185 - 204

Accepted: 25 Apr 2020
Published online: 09 Feb 2021 *

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