An optimization algorithm for a capacitated vehicle routing problem with time windows

• Published in: Sadhana (Bangalore) Vol. 41; no. 5; pp. 519 - 529
• Main Author: Kirci, Pinar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Delhi Springer India 01.05.2016
• Subjects: Engineering; tabu search; simulated annealing; hopfield neural networks; Vehicle routing problem; google maps
• ISSN: 0256-2499; 0973-7677
• DOI: 10.1007/s12046-016-0488-5

In this paper, vehicle routing problem (VRP) with time windows and real world constraints are considered as a real-world application on google maps. Also, tabu search is used and Hopfield neural networks is utilized. Basic constraints consist of customer demands, time windows, vehicle speed, vehicle capacity and working hours. Recently, cost and on-time delivery are the most important factors in logistics. Thus, the logistic applications attract attention of companies. In logistic management, determining the locations of delivery points and deciding the path are the vital components that should be considered. Deciding the paths of vehicles provides companies to use their vehicles efficiently. And with utilizing optimized paths, big amounts of cost and time savings will be gained. The main aim of the work is providing the best path according to the needs of the customers, minimizing the costs with utilizing the VRP and presenting an application for companies that need logistic management. To compare the results, simulated annealing is used on special scenarios. And t-test is performed in the study for the visited path in km with p-value of 0.05.