Inventory routing problems: an introduction

Abstract

In this tutorial paper, we introduce the inventory routing problems (IRPs) with examples, we classify the characteristics of an IRP and present different models and policies for the class of problems where the crucial decision is when to serve customers. We call this class the problems with decisions over time only. The contributions are on the single link case, i.e., the problem where products are shipped from a supplier to a customer with capacitated vehicles, and on the IRPs with direct shipping. We overview the pioneering papers that appeared in the eighties, the literature on the single link and direct shipping problems, and cite the surveys and the tutorials available.