An Open Vehicle Routing Problem for Daily Shipment Plan of a Local Bedding Company in Turkey

Abstract

This study deals with a daily shipment plan for a bedding company in Turkey. We develop a decision support system optimizing total travel distance of vehicles completing daily shipment plans. In detail the developed models both assign the shipment goods to capacitated vehicles as well as minimize the total travel distance of these vehicles by considering an open vehicle routing algorithm. The decision support system is coded by using the MS excel-macro and a user friendly tool is developed for users’ convenience. In the developed tool there are two different solution approaches: a mixed integer mathematical programming and a heuristic solution approaches. For the small size plans (i.e. less than 25 demand points) mathematical modelling guaranteeing the optimal solution can be utilized. For the large size cases the heuristic algorithm providing a near-optimal result promptly can be utilized. The macro-based tool is designed such a flexible way that the user can make any revisions on the provided plan whenever necessary. © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.