Modular Coordination of Vehicle Routing and Bin Packing Problems in Last Mile Logistics

Nikica Perić (), Anđelko Kolak and Vinko Lešić
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Nikica Perić: Laboratory for Renewable Energy Systems, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Anđelko Kolak: Laboratory for Renewable Energy Systems, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Vinko Lešić: Laboratory for Renewable Energy Systems, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Logistics, 2025, vol. 9, issue 2, 1-27

Abstract: Background : Logistics and transport, core of many business processes, are continuously optimized to improve efficiency and market competitiveness. The paper describes a modular coordination of vehicle routing and bin packing problems that enables independent instances of the problems to be joined together, with the aim that the vehicle routing solution satisfies all the constraints from real-world applications. Methods : The vehicle routing algorithm is based on an adaptive memory procedure that also incorporates a simple, one-dimensional bin packing problem. This preliminary packing solution is refined by a complex, three dimensional bin packing for each vehicle to identify the infeasible packages. The method iteratively adjusts virtual volumes until reaching near-optimal routes that respect bin-packing constraints. Results : The coordination enables independent applications of an adaptive memory procedure to vehicle routing and a genetic algorithm approach to bin packing while joining them in a computationally tractable way. Such a coordinated approach is applied to a frequently used public benchmark and proven to provide commensurate costs while significantly lowering algorithm complexity. Conclusions : The proposed method is further validated on a real industrial case study and provided additional savings of 14.48% in average daily distance traveled compared to the current industrial standard.

Keywords: vehicle routing; bin packing; adaptive memory; genetic algorithm; coordination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L8 L80 L81 L86 L87 L9 L90 L91 L92 L93 L98 L99 M1 M10 M11 M16 M19 R4 R40 R41 R49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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