Vehicle Routing Problem In The Delivery Of Water For Post-Disaster Humanitarian Logistics: A Case Study Of Viet Nam

Abstract

The provision of water is crucial since it is a vital need following a disaster. Transporting relief supplies, particularly water, can take many different forms. Although bottled water can be easily distributed, getting it from outside to afflicted communities can be expensive. Bulk water can be acquired by water purification devices or naturally occurring sources, however this tactic necessitates that the survivors have a container. There are trade-offs between the logistics expenses and modes of transportation needed for the two distinct categories of water resources, which are frequently disregarded in the literature.This thesis makes use of the social cost vehicle routing problem. This is a mathematical model that uses the objective function's social costs to determine the delivery, routing, and transportation formats. Owing to the problem's NP-hardness, a novel metaheuristic method is created and applied to solve instances of the issue via local search. Three algorithms are employed: tabu search(TS), simulated annealing(SA) and variable neighborhood search (VNS) . This approach was used to distribute water following the 2020 Vietnam floods. In order to reduce response costs, this strategy was developed in the instance of providing survivors with bottled and bulk water.