USING GLOBAL SEARCH HEURISTICS FOR THE CAPACITY VEHICLE-ROUTING PROBLEM

In this work, a Frame is posed which allows to define global search he uristics in an efficient and declarative way, which interacts with a s pecific computational implementation of a problem. An overview of diff erent ways to solve problems by the use of global search is presented, followed by the specification of the language proposed. A real decisi on support system was developed through the use of the language. The p roblem faced was an extension of the capacity vehicle routing problem. The followed approach minimizes the development cost of a decision su pport system for logistic and productive environments, since the perfo rmance of different heuristics can be tested using the language in a s traightforward way. Besides, when new requirements or additional knowl edge about the problem appear, the solving engine can be easily modifi ed through the heuristic language. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd All r ights reserved.