Vehicle route planning system based on combinatorial optimization techniques

A vehicle route planning system was developed based on combinatorial optimization techniques. The techniques are efficient methods to find quasi-best combinations from a huge number of combinations in a comparatively short time. Planning vehicle routes for delivery must consider combinations of vehicles, loads, and delivering orders satisfying tight and various conditions. The combinatorial optimization techniques applied to the developed system were evaluated with benchmark problems and real cases provided by logistics companies. The results of the evaluation indicate that the techniques are effective in the vehicle route planning. The technique is reviewed and the results of the evaluation reported.