A Simheuristic Algorithm for Solving the Stochastic Omnichannel Vehicle Routing Problem with Pick-up and Delivery

Advances in information and communication technologies have made possible the emergence of new shopping channels. The so-called ‘omnichannel’ retailing mode allows customers to shop for products online and receive them at home. This paper focuses on the omnichannel delivery concept for the retailing industry, which addresses the replenishment of a set of retail stores and the direct shipment of the products to customers within an integrated vehicle routing formulation. Due to its NP-Hardness, a constructive heuristic, which is extended into a biased-randomized heuristic and which is embedded into a multi-start procedure, is introduced for solving the large-sized instances of the problem. Next, the problem is enriched by considering a more realistic scenario in which travel times are modeled as random variables. For dealing with the stochastic version of the problem, a simheuristic algorithm is proposed. A series of computational experiments contribute to illustrate how our simheuristic can provide reliable and low-cost solutions under uncertain conditions.

[1]  Dylan Jones,et al.  Multi-objective biased randomised iterated greedy for robust permutation flow shop scheduling problem under disturbances , 2020, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[2]  Ren Moses,et al.  Minimizing Carbon Dioxide Emissions Due to Container Handling at Marine Container Terminals via Hybrid Evolutionary Algorithms , 2017, IEEE Access.

[3]  Daniele Ferone,et al.  A biased-randomized iterated local search for the distributed assembly permutation flow-shop problem , 2020, Int. Trans. Oper. Res..

[4]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  A biased-randomized metaheuristic for the capacitated location routing problem , 2017, Int. Trans. Oper. Res..

[5]  Alexander H. Hübner,et al.  Distribution systems in omni-channel retailing , 2016 .

[6]  Jianzhou Wang,et al.  Research and application based on the swarm intelligence algorithm and artificial intelligence for wind farm decision system , 2019, Renewable Energy.

[7]  Renato F. Werneck,et al.  Robust Branch-and-Cut-and-Price for the Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem , 2006, Math. Program..

[8]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  Speeding up computational times in simheuristics combining genetic algorithms with discrete-Event simulation , 2020, Simul. Model. Pract. Theory.

[9]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  A biased-randomised algorithm for the capacitated facility location problem with soft constraints , 2020, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[10]  Juan José Ramos,et al.  A simheuristic algorithm for solving the arc-routing problem with stochastic demands , 2018, J. Simulation.

[11]  Ricardo Lüders,et al.  A simheuristic approach for throughput maximization of asynchronous buffered stochastic mixed-model assembly lines , 2020, Comput. Oper. Res..

[12]  Gilbert Laporte,et al.  An exact algorithm for the asymmetrical capacitated vehicle routing problem , 1986, Networks.

[13]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  A variable neighborhood search simheuristic for the multiperiod inventory routing problem with stochastic demands , 2020, Int. Trans. Oper. Res..

[14]  Maged M. Dessouky,et al.  An Exact Algorithm for the Multiple Vehicle Pickup and Delivery Problem , 2004, Transp. Sci..

[15]  Antonio Moreno,et al.  Integration of Online and Offline Channels in Retail: The Impact of Sharing Reliable Inventory Availability Information , 2014, Manag. Sci..

[16]  George B. Dantzig,et al.  The Truck Dispatching Problem , 1959 .

[17]  Emma Juaneda Ayensa,et al.  Understanding the customer experience in the age of omni-channel shopping , 2017 .

[18]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  Agri-food supply chains with stochastic demands: A multi-period inventory routing problem with perishable products , 2019, Simul. Model. Pract. Theory.

[19]  Giselher Pankratz,et al.  A Grouping Genetic Algorithm for the Pickup and Delivery Problem with Time Windows , 2005, OR Spectr..

[20]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  A simulation-optimization approach to deploy Internet services in large-scale systems with user-provided resources , 2014, Simul..

[21]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  A Biased-Randomised Large Neighbourhood Search for the two-dimensional Vehicle Routing Problem with Backhauls , 2016, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[22]  Tarek Y. ElMekkawy,et al.  Vehicle routing problem in omni-channel retailing distribution systems , 2018 .

[23]  Jean-François Cordeau,et al.  Branch and Cut and Price for the Pickup and Delivery Problem with Time Windows , 2009, Transp. Sci..

[24]  Michael Papasimeon,et al.  A simheuristic approach for evolving agent behaviour in the exploration for novel combat tactics , 2019, Operations Research Perspectives.

[25]  K. Umamaheswari,et al.  A bio-inspired swarm intelligence technique for social aware cognitive radio handovers , 2017, Comput. Electr. Eng..

[26]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  Combining variable neighborhood search with simulation for the inventory routing problem with stochastic demands and stock-outs , 2018, Comput. Ind. Eng..

[27]  Martin W. P. Savelsbergh,et al.  The General Pickup and Delivery Problem , 1995, Transp. Sci..

[28]  Alexander H. Hübner,et al.  Retail logistics in the transition from multi-channel to omni-channel , 2016 .

[29]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  A Savings-Based Heuristic for Solving the Omnichannel Vehicle Routing Problem with Pick-up and Delivery , 2020 .

[30]  J. Wesley Barnes,et al.  Solving the Pickup and Delivery Problem with Time Windows Using Reactive Tabu Search Transportation , 2000 .

[31]  Mário S. Santos,et al.  Simheuristic-based decision support system for efficiency improvement of an iron ore crusher circuit , 2020, Eng. Appl. Artif. Intell..

[32]  B. Kafash,et al.  Fuzzy capacitated location-routing problem with simultaneous pickup and delivery demands , 2019 .

[33]  Halina Kwasnicka,et al.  Nature Inspired Methods and Their Industry Applications—Swarm Intelligence Algorithms , 2018, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics.

[34]  Yuan Li,et al.  Adaptive large neighborhood search for the pickup and delivery problem with time windows, profits, and reserved requests , 2016, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[35]  Laura Calvet,et al.  A simheuristic algorithm to set up starting times in the stochastic parallel flowshop problem , 2018, Simul. Model. Pract. Theory.

[36]  Maxim A. Dulebenets,et al.  A Self-Adaptive Evolutionary Algorithm for the Berth Scheduling Problem: Towards Efficient Parameter Control , 2018, Algorithms.

[37]  David Pisinger,et al.  An Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search Heuristic for the Pickup and Delivery Problem with Time Windows , 2006, Transp. Sci..

[38]  J. K. Lenstra,et al.  Complexity of vehicle routing and scheduling problems , 1981, Networks.

[39]  Vili Podgorelec,et al.  Swarm Intelligence Algorithms for Feature Selection: A Review , 2018, Applied Sciences.

[40]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  A variable neighborhood search simheuristic for project portfolio selection under uncertainty , 2020, J. Heuristics.

[41]  Joseph Y.-T. Leung,et al.  Integrated scheduling of production and distribution to minimize total cost using an improved ant colony optimization method , 2015, Comput. Ind. Eng..

[42]  Tom Van Woensel,et al.  An adaptive large neighborhood search heuristic for the Pickup and Delivery Problem with Time Windows and Scheduled Lines , 2016, Comput. Oper. Res..

[43]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  An iterative biased-randomized heuristic for the fleet size and mix vehicle-routing problem with backhauls , 2019, Int. Trans. Oper. Res..

[44]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  Predicting availability functions in time-dependent complex systems with SAEDES simulation algorithms , 2008, Reliab. Eng. Syst. Saf..

[45]  G. Clarke,et al.  Scheduling of Vehicles from a Central Depot to a Number of Delivery Points , 1964 .

[46]  Norbert Beck,et al.  Categorization of multiple channel retailing in Multi-, Cross-, and Omni‐Channel Retailing for retailers and retailing , 2015 .

[47]  Gilbert Laporte,et al.  Static pickup and delivery problems: a classification scheme and survey , 2007 .

[48]  Laura Calvet,et al.  Designing e-commerce supply chains: a stochastic facility-location approach , 2019, Int. Trans. Oper. Res..

[49]  Lai Soon Lee,et al.  Optimised crossover genetic algorithm for capacitated vehicle routing problem , 2012 .

[50]  Voratas Kachitvichyanukul,et al.  A particle swarm optimization for the vehicle routing problem with simultaneous pickup and delivery , 2009, Comput. Oper. Res..

[51]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  Supporting multi-depot and stochastic waste collection management in clustered urban areas via simulation–optimization , 2017, J. Simulation.

[52]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  A two-phase local search with a discrete-event heuristic for the omnichannel vehicle routing problem , 2020, Comput. Ind. Eng..

[53]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  Agile optimization of a two-echelon vehicle routing problem with pickup and delivery , 2021, Int. Trans. Oper. Res..

[54]  Shih-Wei Lin,et al.  Applying hybrid meta-heuristics for capacitated vehicle routing problem , 2009, Expert Syst. Appl..

[55]  Aziz Ezzatneshan,et al.  A Algorithm for the Vehicle Problem , 2010 .

[56]  Sandrine Heitz-Spahn.  Cross-channel free-riding consumer behavior in a multichannel environment: An investigation of shopping motives, sociodemographics and product categories , 2013 .

[57]  Gülay Barbarosoglu,et al.  A tabu search algorithm for the vehicle routing problem , 1999, Comput. Oper. Res..

[58]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  Using horizontal cooperation concepts in integrated routing and facility-location decisions , 2019, Int. Trans. Oper. Res..

[59]  P. K. Kannan,et al.  From Multi-Channel Retailing to Omni-Channel Retailing: Introduction to the Special Issue on Multi-Channel Retailing , 2015 .

[60]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  An ILS-biased randomization algorithm for the two-dimensional loading HFVRP with sequential loading and items rotation , 2016, J. Oper. Res. Soc..