Vehicle routing problem: Case study Van Thinh Phu trading service producing joint stock company

Abstract

This thesis is about the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) which has been interested over time by many analysts and executives. A common extension of VRP, Heterogeneous Fleet Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem (HFCVRP) is considered in the case of a Vietnamese trading service producing joint stock company -Van Thinh Phu. The objective is to improve current transportation system of the company by minimizing the total travelling cost among customers and set-up cost of vehicles. Then the problem is solved by an exact method – mix integer linear programming with the help of an optimization solving tool, CPLEX, and Tabu Search is also used with the support of Matlab. Results are approved and compared with current circumstance of the company, in order to check the effectiveness of the model in making decisions of vehicle routing. Keywords: Vehicle routing problem, capacitated vehicle routing problem, period vehicle routing problem, heterogeneous fleet, mix fleet vehicle routing problem, mix integer linear programming, tabu search.