A Genetic Algorithm for the Multi-Compartment Vehicle Routing Problem with Flexible Compartment Sizes

Henriette Koch (), Tino Henke () and Gerhard Wäscher ()
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Henriette Koch: Department of Management Science, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg
Tino Henke: Department of Management Science, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg
Gerhard Wäscher: Department of Management Science, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg; School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University

No 160004, FEMM Working Papers from Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management

Abstract: In this paper, a genetic algorithm for the multi-compartment vehicle routing problem with continuously flexible compartment sizes is proposed. In this problem, supplies of several product types have to be collected from customer locations and transported to a depot at minimal cost. In order to avoid mixing of different product types which are transported in the same vehicle, the vehicle’s capacity can be separated into a limited number of compartments. The size of each compartment can be selected arbitrarily within the limits of the vehicle’s capacity, and in each compartment one or several supplies of the same product type can be transported. For solving this problem, a genetic algorithm is presented. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated by means of extensive numerical experiments. Furthermore, the economic benefits of using continuously flexible compartments are investigated.

Keywords: vehicle routing; multiple compartments; genetic algorithm; heuristics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 26 pages
Date: 2016-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cmp and nep-tre
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mag:wpaper:160004

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