Work

Improving Routing Optimization Algorithms: A Business Rules Based System to Generate Initial Solutions

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Business rules serve as a foundational concept in computational problem-solving, offering a structured approach to encoding knowledge and defining actions within a system. These rules, reminiscent of logical statements, consist of conditions (if-part) and corresponding actions (then-part), encapsulating the logic governing decision-making processes. Importantly, they also enable the modelling of human reasoning, allowing systems to emulate cognitive processes and make decisions akin to those of human operators. This aspect adds a layer of cognitive fidelity to computational systems, enhancing their ability to perform complex tasks and adapt to diverse problem domains. In this work, the authors propose a hybrid approach that integrates a system of business rules to define the initial solution in an optimization process. In particular, the analysis of the impact of using this initial feasible solution in a Tabu Search algorithm for solving a vehicle routing problem with time windows is presented. For this purpose, a case study corresponding to a real freight distribution problem in Catalonia (Spain) is implemented to analyse if the obtained results outperformed other typical algorithms for generating the initial feasible solution of this type of routing algorithm.

Source: Transportation research procedia

DOI: 10.1016/j.trpro.2025.04.034

Authors: Jordi Montero, Ferran González, Víctor Diví, M. Paz Linares

Institution: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

Language: English

Topic: Vehicle Routing Optimization Methods

Subfield: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, European Commission, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Departament d'Empresa i Coneixement, Generalitat de Catalunya