Particle swarm optimization algorithm for a vehicle routing problem with heterogeneous fleet, mixed backhauls, and time windows

• Published in: Journal of intelligent manufacturing Vol. 24; no. 4; pp. 775 - 789
• Main Authors: Belmecheri, Farah, Prins, Christian, Yalaoui, Farouk, Amodeo, Lionel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.08.2013; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag (Germany)
• Subjects: Analysis; Benchmarks; Business and Management; Combinatorics; Computer Science; Control; Customers; Literature reviews; Machine learning; Machines; Manufacturing; Manufacturing execution systems; Mechatronics; Operations Research; Optimization; Optimization algorithms; Processes; Production; Robotics; Routing; Studies; Traveling salesman problem; Vehicles; Mixed backhauls; Pick up and delivery; Time windows; Heterogeneous fleet; Particle swarm optimization; Vehicle routing problem
• ISSN: 0956-5515; 1572-8145
• DOI: 10.1007/s10845-012-0627-8

Today, companies need to collect and to deliver goods from and to their depots and their customers. This problem is described as a Vehicle Routing Problem with Mixed Linehaul and Backhaul customers (VRPMB). The goods delivered from the depot to the customers can be alternated with the goods picked up. Other variants of VRP added to VRPMB are Heterogeneous fleet and Time Windows. This paper studies a complex VRP called HVRPMBTW which concerns a logistic/transport society, a problem rarely studied in literature. In this paper, we propose a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) with a local search. This approach has shown its effectiveness on several combinatorial problems. The adaptation of this approach to the problem studied is explained and tested on the benchmarks. The results are compared with our previous methods and they show that in several cases PSO improves the results.