A Vehicle Routing Problem Arising in the Distribution of Higher Education Institutions Exam Booklets

Year 2023, Volume: 36 Issue: 2, 705 - 718, 01.06.2023

Batuhan Kocaoğlu , Ayca Özceylan

https://doi.org/10.35378/gujs.962229

Abstract

In this paper, the exam booklet distribution plan for the Higher Education Institutions Exam (HEIE) is studied. The accurate distribution plan is important to decrease the transportation cost and use the capacity efficiently. The exam booklets distribution should be considered as capacitated vehicle routing problem (VRP). In this context, the aim of this paper is minimizing the cost/distance of distribution from the depot where exam booklets are kept to the schools with capacitated vehicles. The case of Gaziantep city with 135 nodes (one depot and 134 schools) is considered. To model and solve the problem, a mixed integer programming (MIP) model is developed and applied. Due to large size of the problem, the VRP tool of Esri ArcGIS (well-known geographic information system (GIS) software) and OR-tool of Google are also applied to get an acceptable solution in a reasonable time. Finally, the proposed three distribution plans are compared each other and the results are discussed. Our numerical results show that the tools of Esri ArcGIS and OR-tool of Google decreases the total route distance by 8.21% and 3.02% compared to the MIP model, respectively. One of the main contributions of the paper is to show the applicability of network analyst tool of Esri ArcGIS and OR-tool of Google on a real-case CVRP.

Keywords

Capacitated vehicle routing problem, Exam booklet distribution, Geographic information system, Mixed integer programming

References

• [1] Hsu, C.I., Hung, S.F., Li, H.C., “Vehicle routing problem with time-windows for perishable food delivery”, Journal of Food Engineering, 80(2): 465–475, (2007).
• [2] Hannan, M.A., Akhtar, M., Begum, R.A., Basri, H., Hussain, A., Scavino, E., “Capacitated vehicle-routing problem model for scheduled solid waste collection and route optimization using PSO algorithm”, Waste Management, 71: 31–41, (2018).
• [3] Shamsi Gamchi, N., Torabi, S.A., Jolai, F., “A novel vehicle routing problem for vaccine distribution using SIR epidemic model”, OR Spectrum, 43: 155–188, (2021).
• [4] Laporte, G., “Fifty years of vehicle routing”, Transportation Science, 43(4): 407–548, (2009).
• [5] Dondo, R., Cerda, J., “A cluster-based optimization approach for the multi-depot heterogeneous fleet vehicle routing problem with time windows”, European Journal of Operational Research, 176: 1478–1507, (2007).
• [6] Moghadam, B.F., Sadjadi, S.J., Seyedhossein, S.M., “An empirical analysis on robust vehicle routing problem: A case study on drug industry”, International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 7(4): 507–518, (2010).
• [7] Faulina, J., Juan, A., Lera, F., Grasmanc, S., “Solving the capacitated vehicle routing problem with environmental criteria based on real estimations in road transportation: A case study”, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 20, 23–334, (2011).
• [8] Soysal, M., Ruwaarda, J.M.B., Bektaş, T., “The time-dependent two-echelon capacitated vehicle routing problem with environmental considerations”, International Journal of Production Economics, 164: 366–378, (2015).
• [9] Yi, J., Bortfeldt, A., “The capacitated vehicle routing problem with three-dimensional loading constraints and split delivery: A case study, Operations Research Proceedings, in: Andreas Fink & Armin Fügenschuh & Martin Josef Geiger (ed.)”, Operations Research Proceedings, 351–356, Springer, (2016).
• [10] Comert, S.E., Yazgan, H.R., Kır, S., Yener, F., “A cluster first-route second approach for a capacitated vehicle routing problem: A case study”, International Journal of Procurement Management, 11(4): 399–419, (2018).
• [11] Rabbani, M., Bosjin, S.A., Yazdanparast, R., Saravi, N.A., “A stochastic time-dependent green capacitated vehicle routing and scheduling problem with time window, resiliency and reliability: A case study”, Decision Science Letters, 7(4): 381–394, (2018).
• [12] Koç, Ç., Erbaş, M., Özceylan, E., “A rich vehicle routing problem arising in the replenishment of automated teller machines”, An International Journal of Optimization and Control: Theories & Applications, 8(2): 276–287, (2018).
• [13] Redi, A.A.N.P., Maula, F.R., Kumari, F., Syaveyenda, N.U., Ruswandi, N., Khasanah, A.U., Kurniawan, A.C., “Simulated annealing algorithm for solving the capacitated vehicle routing problem: a case study of pharmaceutical distribution”, Jurnal Sistem dan Manajemen Industry, 4(1): 41–49, (2020).
• [14] Sandaruwan, M.K.D.D., Samarathunga, D.M., Daundasekara, W.B., “An improved two-phased heuristic algorithm for the capacitated vehicle routing problem and a case study”, Ceylon Journal of Science, 49(4): 477–484, (2020).
• [15] Ozkan, B., Ozceylan, E., Mete, S., “Planning of vehicle routes for the exam booklet distribution: a GIS-based solution approach”, IFAC-PapersOnLine, 53(2): 11225–11230, (2020).
• [16] Sbai, I., Krichen, S., Limam, O., “Two meta-heuristics for solving the capacitated vehicle routing problem: the case of the Tunisian Post Office”, Operational Research, 22: 507–549, (2022).
• [17] Feng, L., Huang, Y., Zhou, L., Zhong, J., Gupta, A., Tang, K., Tan, K.C., “Explicit evolutionary multitasking for combinatorial optimization: A case study on capacitated vehicle routing problem”, IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, 51(6): 3143–3156, (2021).
• [18] Ozkan, O., Atli, O., 2021, “Transporting COVID-19 testing specimens by routing unmanned aerial vehicles with range and payload constraints: the case of Istanbul”, Transportation Letters, 13(5-6): 482–491, (2021).
• [19] https://developers.google.com/optimization/routing/cvrp. Access date: 19.05.2022.
• [20] Dantzig, G., Ramser, R., “The truck dispatching problem”, Management Science, 6: 80–91, (1959).
• [21] Toth, P., Vigo, D., “Models, relaxations and exact approaches for the capacitated vehicle routing problem”, Discrete Applied Mathematics, 23: 487–512, (2002).
• [22] Fischetti, M., Toth, P., Vigo, D., “A branch-and-bound algorithm for the capacitated vehicle routing problem on directed graphs”, Operations Research, 42(5): 846–859, (1994).
• [23] Bozkaya, B., Yanik, S., Balcisoy, S., “A GIS-based optimization framework for competitive multi-facility location-routing problem”, Networks and Spatial Economics, 10: 297–320, (2010).
• [24] Perron, L., “Operations research and constraint programming at Google. In: Lee J. (eds) Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming – CP 2011”, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 6876: 1–2, (2011).
• [25] https://www.osym.gov.tr/TR,19223/2020.html. Access date: 19.05.2022.