IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transe/v106y2017icp45-59.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Manpower allocation and vehicle routing problem in non-emergency ambulance transfer service

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Zizhen
  • Qin, Hu
  • Wang, Kai
  • He, Huang
  • Liu, Tian

Abstract

We present a manpower allocation and vehicle routing problem (MAVRP), which is a real-life healthcare problem derived from the non-emergency ambulance transfer service in Hong Kong public hospitals. Both manpower and vehicles are critical resources for the hospitals in their daily operations. The service provider needs to make an effective schedule to dispatch drivers, assistants and ambulances to transport patients scattered in different locations. We formulate the MAVRP into a mathematical programming model and propose several variable neighborhood search (VNS) algorithms to solve it. We tested the VNS with steepest descent, first descent and a mixed of two descent strategies on the MAVRP instances. The computational results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the VNS algorithms. Moreover, we also conducted additional experiments to analyze the impact of the number of vehicles on the solutions of the MAVRP instances.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Zizhen & Qin, Hu & Wang, Kai & He, Huang & Liu, Tian, 2017. "Manpower allocation and vehicle routing problem in non-emergency ambulance transfer service," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 45-59.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transe:v:106:y:2017:i:c:p:45-59
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tre.2017.08.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1366554517301722
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tre.2017.08.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. De Bruecker, Philippe & Van den Bergh, Jorne & Beliën, Jeroen & Demeulemeester, Erik, 2015. "Workforce planning incorporating skills: State of the art," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 243(1), pages 1-16.
    2. Lai, David S.W. & Caliskan Demirag, Ozgun & Leung, Janny M.Y., 2016. "A tabu search heuristic for the heterogeneous vehicle routing problem on a multigraph," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 32-52.
    3. Olli Bräysy & Michel Gendreau, 2005. "Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows, Part I: Route Construction and Local Search Algorithms," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(1), pages 104-118, February.
    4. Helena R. Lourenço & Olivier C. Martin & Thomas Stützle, 2010. "Iterated Local Search: Framework and Applications," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: Michel Gendreau & Jean-Yves Potvin (ed.), Handbook of Metaheuristics, chapter 0, pages 363-397, Springer.
    5. Brucker, Peter & Qu, Rong & Burke, Edmund, 2011. "Personnel scheduling: Models and complexity," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 210(3), pages 467-473, May.
    6. Olli Bräysy & Michel Gendreau, 2005. "Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows, Part II: Metaheuristics," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(1), pages 119-139, February.
    7. A Lim & B Rodrigues & L Song, 2004. "Manpower allocation with time windows," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 55(11), pages 1178-1186, November.
    8. Hansen, Pierre & Mladenovic, Nenad, 2001. "Variable neighborhood search: Principles and applications," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(3), pages 449-467, May.
    9. Oktay Günlük & Tracy Kimbrel & Laszlo Ladanyi & Baruch Schieber & Gregory B. Sorkin, 2006. "Vehicle Routing and Staffing for Sedan Service," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(3), pages 313-326, August.
    10. Gilbert Laporte, 2009. "Fifty Years of Vehicle Routing," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(4), pages 408-416, November.
    11. Eveborn, Patrik & Flisberg, Patrik & Ronnqvist, Mikael, 2006. "Laps Care--an operational system for staff planning of home care," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 171(3), pages 962-976, June.
    12. Xiao, Yiyong & Konak, Abdullah, 2016. "The heterogeneous green vehicle routing and scheduling problem with time-varying traffic congestion," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 146-166.
    13. Escobar, John Willmer & Linfati, Rodrigo & Baldoquin, Maria G. & Toth, Paolo, 2014. "A Granular Variable Tabu Neighborhood Search for the capacitated location-routing problem," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 344-356.
    14. Laporte, Gilbert, 1992. "The vehicle routing problem: An overview of exact and approximate algorithms," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 345-358, June.
    15. Stefan Ropke & David Pisinger, 2006. "An Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search Heuristic for the Pickup and Delivery Problem with Time Windows," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(4), pages 455-472, November.
    16. Ernst, A. T. & Jiang, H. & Krishnamoorthy, M. & Sier, D., 2004. "Staff scheduling and rostering: A review of applications, methods and models," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(1), pages 3-27, February.
    17. Alain Hertz & Michel Mittaz, 2001. "A Variable Neighborhood Descent Algorithm for the Undirected Capacitated Arc Routing Problem," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(4), pages 425-434, November.
    18. Yang, Peng & Miao, Lixin & Xue, Zhaojie & Ye, Bin, 2015. "Variable neighborhood search heuristic for storage location assignment and storage/retrieval scheduling under shared storage in multi-shuttle automated storage/retrieval systems," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 164-177.
    19. G. Clarke & J. W. Wright, 1964. "Scheduling of Vehicles from a Central Depot to a Number of Delivery Points," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 12(4), pages 568-581, August.
    20. Van den Bergh, Jorne & Beliën, Jeroen & De Bruecker, Philippe & Demeulemeester, Erik & De Boeck, Liesje, 2013. "Personnel scheduling: A literature review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 226(3), pages 367-385.
    21. Andrew Lim & Zhenzhen Zhang & Hu Qin, 2017. "Pickup and Delivery Service with Manpower Planning in Hong Kong Public Hospitals," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(2), pages 688-705, May.
    22. Dayarian, Iman & Crainic, Teodor Gabriel & Gendreau, Michel & Rei, Walter, 2016. "An adaptive large-neighborhood search heuristic for a multi-period vehicle routing problem," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 95-123.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Huang, Nan & Qin, Hu & Du, Yuquan & Wang, Li, 2024. "An exact algorithm for the multi-trip vehicle routing problem with time windows and multi-skilled manpower," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 319(1), pages 31-49.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrew Lim & Zhenzhen Zhang & Hu Qin, 2017. "Pickup and Delivery Service with Manpower Planning in Hong Kong Public Hospitals," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(2), pages 688-705, May.
    2. Vidal, Thibaut & Crainic, Teodor Gabriel & Gendreau, Michel & Prins, Christian, 2013. "Heuristics for multi-attribute vehicle routing problems: A survey and synthesis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 231(1), pages 1-21.
    3. Lai, David S.W. & Caliskan Demirag, Ozgun & Leung, Janny M.Y., 2016. "A tabu search heuristic for the heterogeneous vehicle routing problem on a multigraph," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 32-52.
    4. Liu, Yiming & Roberto, Baldacci & Zhou, Jianwen & Yu, Yang & Zhang, Yu & Sun, Wei, 2023. "Efficient feasibility checks and an adaptive large neighborhood search algorithm for the time-dependent green vehicle routing problem with time windows," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 310(1), pages 133-155.
    5. Liu, Ran & Jiang, Zhibin, 2012. "The close–open mixed vehicle routing problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 220(2), pages 349-360.
    6. Chen, Qingfeng & Li, Kunpeng & Liu, Zhixue, 2014. "Model and algorithm for an unpaired pickup and delivery vehicle routing problem with split loads," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 218-235.
    7. Braekers, Kris & Hartl, Richard F. & Parragh, Sophie N. & Tricoire, Fabien, 2016. "A bi-objective home care scheduling problem: Analyzing the trade-off between costs and client inconvenience," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 248(2), pages 428-443.
    8. Fang, Kan & Wang, Shijin & Pinedo, Michael L. & Chen, Lin & Chu, Feng, 2021. "A combinatorial Benders decomposition algorithm for parallel machine scheduling with working-time restrictions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 291(1), pages 128-146.
    9. Brandstätter, Christian & Reimann, Marc, 2018. "The Line-haul Feeder Vehicle Routing Problem: Mathematical model formulation and heuristic approaches," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 270(1), pages 157-170.
    10. Nikola Mardešić & Tomislav Erdelić & Tonči Carić & Marko Đurasević, 2023. "Review of Stochastic Dynamic Vehicle Routing in the Evolving Urban Logistics Environment," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-44, December.
    11. Pureza, Vitória & Morabito, Reinaldo & Reimann, Marc, 2012. "Vehicle routing with multiple deliverymen: Modeling and heuristic approaches for the VRPTW," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 218(3), pages 636-647.
    12. Zamorano, Emilio & Stolletz, Raik, 2017. "Branch-and-price approaches for the Multiperiod Technician Routing and Scheduling Problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 257(1), pages 55-68.
    13. Schneider, Kellie & Nurre, Sarah G., 2019. "A multi-criteria vehicle routing approach to improve the compliance audit schedule for food banks," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 127-140.
    14. TALARICO, Luca & SÖRENSEN, Kenneth & SPRINGAEL, Johan, 2014. "A bi-objective model to increase security and reduce travel costs in the cash-in-transit sector," Working Papers 2014026, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    15. Arpan Rijal & Marco Bijvank & Asvin Goel & René de Koster, 2021. "Workforce Scheduling with Order-Picking Assignments in Distribution Facilities," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(3), pages 725-746, May.
    16. Loske, Dominic & Klumpp, Matthias, 2021. "Human-AI collaboration in route planning: An empirical efficiency-based analysis in retail logistics," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    17. Bhoopalam, Anirudh Kishore & Agatz, Niels & Zuidwijk, Rob, 2018. "Planning of truck platoons: A literature review and directions for future research," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 212-228.
    18. Kritikos, Manolis N. & Ioannou, George, 2010. "The balanced cargo vehicle routing problem with time windows," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 42-51, January.
    19. Bhusiri, Narath & Qureshi, Ali Gul & Taniguchi, Eiichi, 2014. "The trade-off between fixed vehicle costs and time-dependent arrival penalties in a routing problem," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1-22.
    20. Schyns, M., 2015. "An ant colony system for responsive dynamic vehicle routing," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 245(3), pages 704-718.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transe:v:106:y:2017:i:c:p:45-59. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600244/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.