Entwicklung einer automatischen Tourenzusammenstellung - das Vehicle Routing Problem in der Praxis

The Vehicle Routing Problem is one of the most familiar problems in combinatorial optimization, which are an important part of the daily business in many companies. The central problem, the cost-effective allocation of orders to different tours, is always the same, but the concrete characteristic of this problem can vary widely. The main reasons for this variation are different constraints and different objectives. Because of this wide variation, companies often need an individual solution (and an individual program) to solve their Vehicle Routing Problem efficiently and to meet all their requirements. In this thesis such an individual solution (and program) will be developed for the Elefant Holding AG, an international furniture producing company. First the underlying combinatorial optimization problem and its basic extensions and variants will be discussed, and the most important solution approaches are shown. Referring to these approaches, different heuristics for the concrete distribution problem of this company will be developed, analysed and compared. The organisational changes of the restructuring of the distribution-process and the program, in which the developed automatic allocation of orders is integrated, will also be presented.