Possible Application of Solver Optimization Module for Solving Vehicle Routing Problems

The paper presents an algorithm for solving vehicle routing problems using the optimization module Solver. It the paper, the vehicle routing problems, the Solver optimization module, the Clarke-Wright´s method and the Mayer´s method are introduced first. Then, the algorithm used by Solver to solve vehicle routing problems is demonstrated on a typical example of beer delivery. The resulting design of travel routes of the typical example obtained by means of Solver is, then, compared with the designs obtained using the originally used method, the Clarke-Wright´s method and the Mayer´s method. The subject of comparison includes the total length of designed travel routes. The comparison has revealed that the best result was achieved by employing Solver. As a result, it was concluded that Solver can be used as an efficient and easily accessible tool for solving simpler types of vehicle routing problems in companies, where only manual methods have been used so far and no professional software is available.