A Branch-and-Cut-and-Price Algorithm for the Two-Echelon Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem

Fernando Afonso Santos (), Geraldo Robson Mateus () and Alexandre Salles da Cunha ()
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Fernando Afonso Santos: Universidade Federal de Itajubá, Campus Itabira, Itabira, Minas Gerais 35903-087, Brazil
Geraldo Robson Mateus: Departamento de Ciência da Computação, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31270-921, Brazil
Alexandre Salles da Cunha: Departamento de Ciência da Computação, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31270-921, Brazil

Transportation Science, 2015, vol. 49, issue 2, 355-368

Abstract: In this paper, we introduce a branch-and-cut-and-price algorithm for the two-echelon capacitated vehicle routing problem. The algorithm relies on a reformulation based on q -routes that combines two important features. First, it overcomes symmetry issues observed in a formulation coming from a previous study of the problem. Second, it is strengthened with several classes of valid inequalities. As a result, the branch-and-cut-and-price implementation compares favorably with previous exact solution approaches for the problem—namely, two branch-and-price algorithms and a branch-and-cut method. Overall, 10 new optimality certificates and 8 new best upper bounds are provided in this study. New best lower bounds are also presented for all instances in the hardest test set from the literature.

Keywords: vehicle routing; two-echelon systems; column generation; cutting planes; branch-and-cut-and-price algorithms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ortrsc:v:49:y:2015:i:2:p:355-368

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