The single-stage location-routing problem with time windows

Abstract

The well-known capacitated facility location problem (CFLP) and the vehicle routing problem with time windows (VRPTW) have been studied intensively over the last decades. In most distribution systems, depot location and routing decisions are implemented independently. Low-quality solutions are obtained if a sequential method, e.g., locate depots first and plan routes second, is used. In location-routing problems (LRP), location and routing are solved simultaneously. Here, our goal is to combine the CFLP and the VRPTW into a single-stage LRP with time windows (SSLRPTW), which covers more realistic aspects, especially time aspects, of many real problems. In order to efficiently solve the SSLRPTW for large-scale instances, a tabu search heuristic is proposed. This method outperforms the used sequential method. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.