Vehicle routing in a Spanish distribution company: Saving using a savings-based heuristic

In this article we present a Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) faced by a large distribution company in the Northeast of Spain. The company distributes products from its central facilities to a chain of around 400 stores all over the country. One of the peculiarities of the VRP of this company – which is common among real-life VRPs – is the presence of a heterogeneous fleet where vehicles with different capacities can make multiple trips during a...