Optimizing the periodic pick-up of raw materials for a manufacturer of auto parts

— We describe a solution procedure for a special case of the periodic vehicle routing problem (PVRP). Operation managers at an auto parts in the north of Spain described the optimization problem to the authors. The manufacturer must pick up parts (raw material) from geographically dispersed locations. The parts are picked up periodically at scheduled times. The problem consists of assigning a pickup schedule to each of its supplier’s locations and also establishing daily routes in order to minimize total transportation costs. The time horizon under consideration may be as long as 90 days. The resulting PVRP is such that the critical decision is the assignment of locations to schedules, because once this is done, the daily routing of vehicles is relatively straightforward. Through extensive computational experiments, we show that the metaheuristic procedure described in this paper is capable of finding high-quality solutions within a reasonable amount of computer time. Our main cont...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2007
• Where: EOR
• Authors: Jesús F. Alegre, Manuel Laguna, Joaquín A. Pacheco
• Keywords: EOR 2007, Optimization Problem, Solution Procedure, Total Transportation Costs