A Practical Agile Route Optimisation Solution for Transport of Goods

The purpose of this study is to design and build an agile solution, able to adapt to as many practical situations as possible from the spectrum of optimizing distribution routes in the transport of goods. These optimizations are increasingly needed today, in the context of energy and climate crises. Making the use of electricity and fossil fuels more efficient means using a smaller amount of raw material to produce the same result. The study resumes the discussion of the classic problem of the traveler’s commissary as the main starting point in optimizing the distribution routes, over which new functionalities are added to develop an agile algorithm, capable of adapting in as many practical scenarios as possible. Several types of algorithms, such as CVRP, VRPP, VRPPD, VRPTW, etc., are reviewed., explaining a graphical, easy-to-understand manner that clearly shows the difference in approach and the purpose for which they can be used. Reducing distances travelled by optimally grouping points of interest can bring substantial savings. As the study shows, the monthly costs for each vehicle in the fleet are significant, so a reduction in personnel entails a reduction in costs. The work focuses on defining many functionalities to achieve as many existing objectives as possible within any distribution company: minimizing the number of vehicles needed, minimizing transport costs, increasing customer satisfaction, and avoiding penalties. The structure of the paper includes the introduction, the current state of knowledge in the field, the methodology of the research with the presentation of the characteristics of the projected solution, the highlighting of the agile dimension of the proposed solution, the conclusions, and the most important research directions.