Multi-objective optimization of a sustainable two echelon vehicle routing problem with simultaneous pickup and delivery in construction projects

Abstract

In many construction projects, the delivery of raw materials from the warehouse to the project place and the return of waste materials from the project place to the warehouse are planned simultaneously. This issue has many complexing assumptions. Accordingly, in this research, the multi-objective two-echelon vehicle routing with simultaneous pickup and delivery is investigated. For this purpose, a multi-objective mathematical model has been developed. Objective functions include economic, environmental and social criteria to achieve sustainability. Moreover, as the problem is known as a hard-NP problem, two meta-heuristic algorithms, NSGA-II and MOPSO, are proposed to solve this problem. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed meta-heuristic algorithms, 10 test problems of different sizes were generated. The solutions obtained with the proposed algorithms for each of these example problems were evaluated using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method in eight indicators. The achieved numerical results show that the proposed model and the applied algorithms have sufficient efficiency. Moreover, it is revealed that the NSGAII and MOPSO algorithms have a desirability weight of 0.4321 and0.5679, respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that the MOPSO algorithm has higher efficiency for solving the model.