Consistent vehicle routing problem with service level agreements: A case study in the pharmaceutical distribution sector

Pedro Campelo, Fábio Neves-Moreira, Pedro Amorim and Bernardo Almada-Lobo

European Journal of Operational Research, 2019, vol. 273, issue 1, 131-145

Abstract: In this paper, a mathematical model is developed to tackle a Consistent Vehicle Routing Problem, which considers customers with multiple daily deliveries and different service level agreements such as time windows, and release dates. In order to solve this problem, an instance size reduction algorithm and a mathematical programming based decomposition approach are developed. This solution approach is benchmarked against a commercial solver. Results indicate that the method solves instances of large size, enabling its application to real-life scenarios. A case study in a pharmaceutical distribution company is analyzed. Consistent routes are planned for several warehouses, comprising hundreds of orders. A simulation model evaluates the performance of the generated route plans. Significant improvements in terms of the total distance traveled and the total travel times are obtained when compared to the company’s current planning process.

Keywords: Consistent vehicle routing problem; Service level agreements; Matheuristics; Pharmaceutical industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ejores:v:273:y:2019:i:1:p:131-145

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2018.07.030

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