How to Create Good Heuristics for Distribution Problems

A matter that has occupied many researchers is to discover methods for devising good heuristics for distribution problems. So far the results have not been very successful, although some good general methods exist, like simulated annealing, tabu search and genetic algorithm. This paper describes the distribution problems faced by one of the largest retailers in the distribution and sale of fast moving consumer goods in the U.K. Therefore, to create good heuristics in order to solve this kind of problems, are be based on an intuitive and meaningful concept, decision. The main propose of this paper is to explain these decisions and some evolution criteria for heuristic algorithms.

Keywords:

Retail Distribution , Heuristics Algorithm , Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) ,