Abstract
In actual distribution process, the traffic flow varies with time, and each consumer has multiple fuzzy windows. To minimize the total distribution cost and mean consumer dissatisfaction, this paper sets up a vehicle routing problem (VRP) model with multiple fuzzy time windows, based on time-varying traffic flow. In addition, the Ito algorithm was improved based on time-varying traffic flow. The model and algorithm were verified through example simulation, in comparison with ant colony optimization (ACO). During the simulation, the improved Ito algorithm effectively reduced the distribution cost and consumer dissatisfaction, and outperformed the ACO in solving efficiency and solution quality. The results fully demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The research findings provide a desirable solution to VRPs with multiple fuzzy windows and time-varying traffic flow in the real world.
Highlights
The booming economy in China is accompanied by the rise of the logistics industry
Considering the delivery time required by consumers, many scholars probed into the vehicle routing problem (VRP) with time windows (VRPTW), including hard time window, soft time window and fuzzy time window
To make up for the gap, this paper sets up a VRP model with time-varying traffic flow and multiple fuzzy time windows, and improved the Ito algorithm based on time-varying traffic flow to solve the problem
Summary
The booming economy in China is accompanied by the rise of the logistics industry. The logistics cost has become a major concern among profit-seeking enterprises. Based on consumer satisfaction and vehicle transport cost, Sun and Ma [13] constructed a multi-objective VRP with fuzzy time window, and solved the problem with hybrid bat algorithm. In the light of consumer demand in actual distribution, Yan and Wang [14] studied the VRP with multiple fuzzy time windows, solved the problem with particle swarm optimization (PSO), and verified the cost effectiveness of the solution. J. Zheng: VRP Model With Multiple Fuzzy Windows Based on Time-Varying Traffic Flow put forward a hybrid heuristic algorithm to solve the problem accurately and effectively. There is not enough research into VRPs with time-varying traffic flow or multiple time windows of a single consumer, both of which are common in the real-world. To make up for the gap, this paper sets up a VRP model with time-varying traffic flow and multiple fuzzy time windows, and improved the Ito algorithm based on time-varying traffic flow to solve the problem
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