Study of Variants of the Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows and Multiple Deliverymen with Two Decision Levels

• Grant number: 24/21921-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Production Engineering - Operational Research
• Principal Investigator: Reinaldo Morabito Neto
• Grantee: Enzo Canesso Geraldini
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/05803-3 - Cutting, packing, lot-sizing, scheduling, routing and location problems and their integration in industrial and logistics settings, AP.TEM

Abstract

The Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows and Multiple Deliverymen (VRPTWMD) is a variant of the traditional Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows (VRPTW). In this variant, multiple deliverymen travel with the vehicle, reducing service time at customer locations. Customers are grouped into clusters, with vehicles traveling primary routes (between clusters) and deliverymen traveling secondary routes (within clusters) to serve the customers. Variants involving two-level decision-making (vehicle and deliverer routes) and customer clustering have been scarcely studied in the literature. Therefore, this project aims to explore variants of the problem, considering two-level decision routing and customer clustering using heuristic, metaheuristic, exact, and hybrid methods.