1998 · 15 citations · 0 references
ManagementIndustrial EngineeringOperations ManagementOptimizationTransportTransportationCombinatorial OptimizationHeuristic OptimizationHeuristic SearchRoutingVehicle SchedulingDeadlinesHeuristic ApproachSimulated AnnealingSimulated Annealing OptimizationSimulated Annealing RoutingTime WindowsVehicle RoutingVehicle Routing Problems
The vehicle routing problem with backhauls and time windows (VRPBTW) involves pickups and deliveries of goods at different customers locations, with earliest and latest time deadlines, and varying demands. The demands are satisfied using capacitated vehicles with limited route time. The objective of the problem is to service all customers while minimizing the number of vehicles and distance traveled. In this paper, a new heuristic method is described based on the simulated annealing for the VRPBTW. The VRPBTW includes pickup after delivery case and pickup while delivery case. In the pickup after delivery case, the solutions generated by the proposed method are compared with the solutions given by other methods. Moreover, the solutions of the pickup after delivery case with the solutions of the pickup while delivery case are compared. For the covering abstract see IRRD E102946.