7.15 Routing

What is Routing? The process of planning and executing the most efficient and cost-effective delivery routes for transporting goods from a supplier to the end customer.

1. Benefits

• Reduce costs
• Improve delivery service and customer satisfaction
• Cut carbon emissions

2. Common routing Problems

• Vehicle Routing Problem(VRP): Finding the most efficient routes for a fleet of vehicles to deliver goods or services to a set of customers while minimizing costs and meeting certain constraints.
• Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem(CVRP): The vehicles have a limited carrying capacity of the goods that must be delivered.
• Vehicle Routing Problem With Time Windows(VRPTW): The delivery locations have time windows within which the deliveries (or visits) must be made.
• Vehicle Routing Problem With Pickup and Delivery(VRPPD): Includes pickup and delivery tasks in addition to the standard customer visits. Vehicles are tasked with not only delivering goods to customers but also picking up items from other locations and delivering them to different destinations.