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Refill on the road

Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2023 10:02 am
by Bernd Welter
I've been asked for the following requirement and whether / how to modell this in xTour2:
Generic setup:<br />blue truck - central depot <br />gray trucks: small refill stations
Generic setup:
blue truck - central depot
gray trucks: small refill stations
Based on a central depot the orders in the planning area require two types of material:
  • 10-20% of the orders require material which is available only at the blue depot
  • 80-90% of the orders require material which is available at the blue and the gray locations
Refills are required because
  • The overall volume of orders exceeds the vehicle's capacity
  • Time constraints apply such as maximum tour period or vehicle's operating intervals.
By utilizing the gray locations as alternative pickup depots the customers expect a huge potential of savings because the vehicles do not have to drive back to the blue depot.
ScenarioTraveltime in hh:mmDistanceTours / trips
#1 - from home10:05605 km2 / 7
#2 - on road / from scratch08:48527 km2 / 7
#3a - from nearest depot10:22622 km2 / 7
#3b - with input plan "3a"08:42522 km2 / 7
Here are the scenarios:
  • Scenario 1 : no utilization of the gray locations
    #1 refill at the central depot
    #1 refill at the central depot
  • Scenario 2 : refill on the road based on "from scratch" planning
    Scenario #2: Refill on the road from scratch (no input plan used)
    Scenario #2: Refill on the road from scratch (no input plan used)
  • Scenario 3 : the gray locations are used for refilling "on the road"
    Scenario 3a: From the nearest depot
    Scenario 3a: From the nearest depot
    #3b: refill on the road (graytrucks are the refill stations)
    #3b: refill on the road (graytrucks are the refill stations)
  • Comparison in terms of monetary costs:
    Comparison
    Comparison
Sidenote:
Scenario 3 was built on a small iteration:
  • I created an initial solution based on "each order has to be served by the closest depot" (scenario #2)
  • Then I used the output plan as input plan for a planning with AlternativePickup and allowed each available location as refill location
Bernd