Design factors analysis for instances of rich vehicle routing problem

Over the last years various extensions of the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP), considering complicated constraints encountered in the real-life, has been studied. These extensions are often coined as rich VRP. In this work, we tackle a rich VRP namely the Multi Compartment Multi Commodity Heterogeneous Fixed Fleet Vehicle Routing Problem with hard Time Windows (MCMCHFFVRPTW). The objective of the problem is to determine an assignment of the non-intermixable products into vehicle compartments of different sizes and a set of vehicle routes of total minimum distance and minimum waiting time while satisfying the customer demands. The main contribution of this paper is to identify the most relevant instance factor for this problem. Thus, we develop a generic parameterized mathematical model and a data set generator able to produce a great variety of instances based on various service policies and fleet characteristics. New sets of instances were generated by systematically varying design parameters. First, an exact resolution for four models using CPLEX 10.0 is provided. Second, we resorted to the desirability method using the Design Expert 7.0 software to find a good set of conditions. This study allows the companies identifying the best policies to follow and the essential components to reduce costs.