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Adaptive multi-restart Tabu Search algorithm for the vehicle routing problem with cross-docking

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Abstract

This paper deals with a multi-source vehicle routing problem with a cross-docking facility, and studies open and closed network configurations as well as practically relevant dependency rules and consolidation decisions. Given a set of supplier–customer pairs with known demands, the aim is to design minimum cost routes for the transportation of products via a cross-dock. Vehicles cannot travel directly from suppliers to customers, and thus, products arriving from inbound vehicles are sorted and consolidated onto outbound vehicles. The proposed method utilizes an adaptive multi-restart local search framework. For this purpose, a Tabu Search algorithm is employed, while the execution of the re-starting mechanism is based on the information extracted from a reference set of solutions. Computational experiments illustrate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed method. Compared to existing results, new improved upper bounds are reported.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Research Center of the Athens University of Economics and Business. The author also wishes to thank the guest editors for handling the paper, and the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.

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  1. Department of Management Science and Technology, Operations Research and Decision Systems Centre, Athens University of Economics and Business, 95, Patission str, 3rd floor, 10434 , Athens, Greece

    Christos D. Tarantilis

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  1. Christos D. Tarantilis
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Correspondence to Christos D. Tarantilis.

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Tarantilis, C.D. Adaptive multi-restart Tabu Search algorithm for the vehicle routing problem with cross-docking. Optim Lett 7, 1583–1596 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11590-012-0558-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11590-012-0558-5

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