A Tool for Solving the CVRP Problem by Applying the Tabu Search Algorithm

The capacitated vehicle routing problem (CVRP) aims to optimize the delivery of products to different customers considering the capacity of the vehicles. This paper presents the implementation of a tool for findings routes that solve the CVRP problem. The proposed tool generates an initial solution by applying the Nearest Neighbor algorithm and then modifies the initial solution by applying two different versions of the Tabu Search algorithm. The differences between versions of the algorithm are in the generation of the neighborhood by interchanging two or four elements in the swapping process. To evaluate the results achieved by the algorithms, 27 instances acquired from the repository of CVRPLIB were tested, observing differences against the best-known value. Nonetheless, the tool allows to show graphically the initial instance, the initial and final solution routes and the performance of the algorithms with the aim of being a means for the analysis and improvement of algorithms.