Bees Algorithm for Vehicle Routing Problems with Time Windows

Abstract

This paper presents the bees algorithm for vehicle routing problems within time windows (VRPTW). The VRPTW aims to determine the optimal route for a number of vehicles when serving a set of customers within a predefined time interval (the time window). The objective in VRPTW is to minimize overall transportation cost. Various heuristic and metaheuristic approaches have been developed in literature to produce high-quality solutions for this problem because of its high complication rate and extensive implementation in real-life applications. This research investigates the use of bee algorithms (BA) for VRPTW and identifying the strengths and weaknesses.