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Multi-objective microzone-based vehicle routing for courier companies: From tactical to operational planning

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  • Janssens, Jochen
  • Van den Bergh, Joos
  • Sörensen, Kenneth
  • Cattrysse, Dirk

Abstract

Distribution companies that serve a very large number of customers, courier companies for example, often partition the geographical region served by a depot into zones. Each zone is assigned to a single vehicle and each vehicle serves a single zone. An alternative approach is to partition the distribution region into smaller microzones that are assigned to a preferred vehicle in a so-called tactical plan. The moment the workload in each microzone is known, the microzones can be reassigned to vehicles in such a way that the total distance traveled is minimized, the workload of the different vehicles is balanced, and as many microzones as possible are assigned to their preferred vehicle. In this paper we model the resulting microzone-based vehicle routing problem as a multi-objective optimization problem and develop a simple yet effective algorithm to solve it. We analyze this algorithm and discuss the results it obtains.

Suggested Citation

  • Janssens, Jochen & Van den Bergh, Joos & Sörensen, Kenneth & Cattrysse, Dirk, 2015. "Multi-objective microzone-based vehicle routing for courier companies: From tactical to operational planning," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 242(1), pages 222-231.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ejores:v:242:y:2015:i:1:p:222-231
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2014.09.026
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    4. Bender, Matthias & Kalcsics, Jörg & Meyer, Anne, 2020. "Districting for parcel delivery services – A two-Stage solution approach and a real-World case study," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    5. Vidal, Thibaut & Laporte, Gilbert & Matl, Piotr, 2020. "A concise guide to existing and emerging vehicle routing problem variants," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 286(2), pages 401-416.
    6. Stavropoulou, F. & Repoussis, P.P. & Tarantilis, C.D., 2019. "The Vehicle Routing Problem with Profits and consistency constraints," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 274(1), pages 340-356.
    7. DEFRYN, Christof & SÖRENSEN, Kenneth, 2015. "A two-level variable neighbourhood search for the Euclidean clustered vehicle routing problem," Working Papers 2015002, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    8. JANSSENS, Jochen & SÖRENSEN, Kenneth & JANSSENS, Gerrit K., 2016. "A parameter tuning method to analyse the influence of algorithmic parameters in combination with instance characteristics on the quality of a Pareto front," Working Papers 2016006, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.

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