A constructive heuristic for the multi-compartment vehicle routing problem: an approach for a fuel distribution company

In this paper, we suggest a Decision Support System (DSS) for route planning. This DSS was developed in a real context in a fuel distribution company. This company distributes three types of fuel through multi-compartment vehicles with limited capacity, and satisfying delivery time windows imposed by the customers. Two approaches for this problem were considered: The first one considers the route planning without replenishments while the second one considers the multi-trip case. The solution method is based on a Clarke and Wright savings algorithm incorporating all the constraints referred to above. Both approaches were tested using real instances. The savings for the company, in terms of the distribution process, were identified in the computational results. The DSS may provide an effective support to a complex decision problem.This work has been supported by COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043 and FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A procedure for optimizing hazardous materials transportation including road infrastructures' characteristics and door-to-door attempted deliveries

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Optimising the periodic distribution of gas cylinders with customers priority

none3siTriki, Chefi; Akil, Jamila; Azri, Nasser AlTriki, Chefi; Akil, Jamila; Azri, Nasser A

A Construction Heuristics For Vehicle Routing Problem in Fuel Distribution

DergiPark: 470669trakyasobedOneof the well known problems in distribution is the Vehicle Routing Problem(VRP). In this problem, vehicles start their tours from a depot, they visit thecustomers and finish their tours in the depot again. There are several variantsof VRP. Fuel distributionprovides a different kind of VRP which is called as Multi Compartment VehicleRouting Problem (MCVRP). In MCRVP vehicles have compartments and incompatiblepetroleum products are delivered in different compartments of a vehicle. Forboth of the problems solution methods can be classified into two categories;route construction heuristics and improvemenet heuristics. While there is asignificant literature on VRP regarding these heuristics, the literature onMCVRP is much more limited. The aim of this study is to offer a constructionheuristics for a fuel distribution problem in Turkey. The problem has somefeatures such as compartments, visiting customers more than once and tolerancewhich turns it into a MCVRP problem. Savings Algorithm (SA) and a loadingalgorithm is integrated to develop a construction heuristics for the problem.Proposed heuristics is tested on test problems and acceptable results obtainedwhen compared with the literature. A real life fuel distribution problem issolved with the propsed heuristics and significant cost reduction has beenachieved. The proposed method can be used as a construction method in MCVRP andas a practical solution for real life problems in fuel distribution in Turkey.Araç Rotalama Problemi (ARP) dağıtım alanındaki enbilinen problemlerden birisidir. Problemde bir merkez depodan turlarınabaşlayan araçlar, müşterileri ziyaret edip tekrar depoya dönmektedirler. ARP’ninpek çok çeşidi bulunmaktadır. Akaryakıt dağıtımı da Kompartmanlı Araç RotalamaProblemi (KARP) adı verilen ARP’nin farklı bir versiyonunu sunmaktadır. KARP’dekarışmaması gereken akaryakıt ürünleri farklı kompartımanlarda taşınmaktadır.ARP’de olduğu gibi KARP için çözüm yöntemleri de genelde rota oluşturmasezgiselleri ve iyileştirme sezgiselleri olmak üzere iki kategoriyeayrılmaktadır. Her iki sezgisel kategorisi ile ilgili ARP ile ilgili geniş birliteratür olmasına rağmen, KARP için literatür sınırlıdır.  Bu çalışmanın amacı Türkiye’de akaryakıtdağıtım problemi için bir başlangıç çözümü önermektir. Problemi KARP halinegetiren, her müşteriye birden fazla kez uğrama, kompartıman, tolerans gibideğişkenler bulunmaktadır. Tasarruf Algoritması (TA) bir yükleme algoritmasıile entegre edilerek problem için bir başlangıç çözümü önerilmiştir.  Önerilen yöntem test problemleri üzerindetest edilmiş ve literatürle kıyaslandığında kabul edilebilir sonuçlarvermiştir. Önerilen yöntemle gerçek hayat akaryakıt dağıtım problemiçözülmüştür ve önemli maliyet iyileştirmesi gerçekleştirilmiştir. Önerilenyöntem hem KARP problemlerinde başlangıç çözümü olarak, hem de pratik uygulamaolarak Türkiye’de akaryakıt dağıtımında kullanılabilir

Optimization Approach for Multi-Period Fuel Replenishment

This paper proposes mathematical models and solution approaches for solving the multi-period fuel replenishment planning problem. The model aims to search for a set of routes, determining the quantity of several petroleum products to be loaded on individual vehicle compartments, and specifying the quantity to be discharged to customer tanks over a given planning horizon in which multiple constraints are satisfied. The objective function is to minimize the transportation unit cost, equal to the total transportation cost divided by the sum of replenished quantity. As the model size grows exponentially when the number of customers, vehicles, and time period increases, an exact algorithm is not feasible. Hence, in this study, we propose two heuristic approaches: two-phase method (2PM) and three-phase method (3PM). The 2PM is primarily designed for solving small problems whereas the 3PM adopts a similar approach but has the ability to solve larger problems. The proposed solutions were tested using a real-life scenario and randomly generated test instance. The results showed that our solution outperforms the solution constructed by experienced planners and also proved that considering multiple periods when devising the fuel replenishment plan, gives superior results in comparison to single periods

A Matheuristic Approach for the Multi-Depot Periodic Petrol Station Replenishment Problem

Planning petrol station replenishment is an important logistics activity for all the major oil companies. The studied Multi-Depot Periodic Petrol Station Replenishment problem derives from a real case in which the company must replenish a set of petrol stations from a set of depots, during a weekly planning horizon. The company must ensure refuelling according to available visiting patterns, which can be different from customer to customer. A visiting pattern predefines how many times (days) the replenishment occurs during a week and in which visiting days how much fuel must be delivered. To fulfil the weekly demand of each petrol station, one of the available replenishment plans must be selected among a given set of visiting patterns. The aim is to minimize the total distance travelled by the fleet of tank trucks during the entire planning horizon. We provide a math-heuristic approach, based on cluster-first route-second paradigm, to solve it. We thoroughly experiment our approach on a set of realistic random instances. Finally, we consider a weekly large real instance with 194 petrol stations and 2 depots

Risk based, multi objective vehicle routing problem for hazardous materials: a test case in downstream fuel logistics

Abstract The paper analyses a practical case of study related to the distribution of fuels for the Total Erg Oil Company to the service stations located in the Province of Rome (Italy). The problem is formulated as a capacitated vehicle routing problem with time windows, where several heuristic procedures have been tested, considering both static and dynamic travel times. With respect to the standard operational costs used typically, a multivariable objective function has been proposed which takes into account also a new risk index. The risk index proposed is function of the population density of the zones covered by each path and of the estimated number of road accidents on each road link. In such a way, we take into account the population's exposure to the risk associated with an incidental event involving a fuel tank. The obtained output is the set of planned routes with minimum service cost and minimum risk. Results demonstrate how an accurate planning of the service saves up to 3 hours and 30 km on a daily basis compared to a benchmark. Moreover, the distribution company can parameterize the configuration of the service, by varying the weight adopted in order to include the risk index. Including the risk index may bring to a higher safety route planning, with an increase of the operating costs of only 2%

Road-based goods transportation : a survey of real-world logistics applications from 2000 to 2015

The vehicle routing problem has been widely studied from a technical point of view for more than 50 years. Many of its variants are rooted in practical settings. This paper provides a survey of the main real-life applications of road-based goods transportation over the past 15 years. It reviews papers in the areas of oil, gas and fuel transportation, retail, waste collection and management, mail and package delivery and food distribution. Some perspectives on future research and applications are discussed

Programación de carrotanques de transporte de hidrocarburos mediante una búsqueda tabú

Como proyecto aplicativo de conocimientos de ingeniería, se evidenció una posible oportunidad de mejora de procesos en el sector de hidrocarburos de Colombia. Abordando el problema en específico, se observó que los métodos aplicados para la selección de las rutas del transporte terrestre de crudo no aplicaban un proceso óptimo, incurriendo en costos elevados en este rubro. Para poder entender el problema, se tiene en cuenta que en el sector petrolero existen puntos de extracción de crudo con el fin de ser transportado a refinerías u otras ubicaciones donde se procede a destilarlo o a enviarlo a otros puntos por otros medios de transporte. Al evidenciar esta oportunidad, se procedió a evaluar la posibilidad de implantar un sistema de ahorro de costos el cual beneficiará al sector, además de poder planear con antelación sus rutas y saber cómo se mueve su sistema. Luego de esta evaluación y búsqueda bibliográfica, se procedió a realizar una meta heurística para la asignación de rutas que ahorren costos y una simulación para medir el rendimiento de los resultados que se obtienen de la meta heurística, encontrando resultados para el problema. Finalmente se procede a evaluar el modelo frente a los objetivos planteados de ahorro dando como resultado un modelo de ahorro de costos factible.As an application project of knowledge in engineering, it was evidenced a possible process improvement opportunity in the Colombian hydrocarbons sector. Considering that in the Oil field there are locations where the crude oil is extracted in order to be transported to refineries or other places where it is distilled or sent to different locations by other transport means. Therefore, the problem that is going to be solved is a variant of the well know multi-depot vehicle routing problem, with a homogenous fleet, under the constraints of minimum amount of tank-trucks hired from available companies. After searching for bibliographical sources regarding the observed situation, it was proceeded to define a mathematical model then, design and elaborate a hybrid Tabu Search to determine how many tank-trucks to hire and the respective routes for each one. Finally, to be able to measure the performance of the result obtained with the application, in contrast with the current method, a simulation of the routes network for the tankers was made. The feasibility of the solution under random scenarios was set as a performance indicator. The method proposed in this project achieved to improve the current process in an 18.77%, reducing the transportation cost by $ 3.465.065.575.Ingeniero (a) IndustrialPregrad