Solving open vehicle routing problem with time windows based on variable neighborhood search algorithm

Aiming at the Open Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows (OVRPTW) in delivery service, a set partition model was built to minimize the costs of travelling, and the Variable Neighborhood Search (VNS) algorithm was proposed to solve this problem. This algorithm included two stages: shaking and neighborhood search. The shaking was realized by path relinking between the current solution, the population historical optimal solution and the individual historical optimal solution. The neighborhood search was implemented by three operators that were exchange, insertion and 2-opt within the same path and between different paths. The comparison with the existing literature showed that the proposed algorithm could obtain not only higher quality solutions, but also better convergence and stability, which verified the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. © 2021, Editorial Department of CIMS. All right reserved.