Resolution and application of vehicle routing models in the supply and delivery of beverages

• Grant number: 24/12904-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2024
• End date: September 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Production Engineering - Operational Research
• Principal Investigator: Washington Alves de Oliveira
• Grantee: Maria Eduarda Vencato Taveira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Aplicadas (FCA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Limeira , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project investigates computational aspects in the practical application of vehicle routing problems (VRPs). The complexity of this class of problems hinders the attainment of optimal solutions in satisfactory computational time, making the application of exact algorithms challenging and necessitating the use of heuristic methods for their resolution. High-quality suboptimal solutions will be obtained by applying recognized heuristics as well as others developed within this project. These solutions have the potential to provide good bounds and serve as initial solutions in hybrid approaches with exact algorithms, where established valid inequalities can be combined. Applications in the industrial sector are the target of this project. The main objective is to obtain solutions for the planning of a family-owned beverage supply and delivery company, involving inventory sizing and delivery routing. Specifically, in previous undergraduate research projects, we applied VRPs in planning solid waste collection (Canesin, 2017), used the multi-vehicle coverage route problem (m-CRP) in the study of urban policing planning (Oliveira et al., 2008; 2015; Lara, 2016), and developed branch-and-cut and genetic algorithms for the m-CRP (Ota, 2017; 2023). Additionally, the modeling that integrates the lot-sizing and vehicle routing problems (Adulyasak, 2015) is useful for the type of application intended in this project, where we can simultaneously address two classical problems from the literature by sizing inventory in conjunction with routing deliveries. As a final product, we aim to develop a computerized module (software prototype) that automatically produces a collection of efficient routes suggested for the family-owned company in its daily delivery routine.