The stochastic inventory routing problem on electric roads
Alejandro Gutierrez-Alcoba, Roberto Rossi, Belén Martín-Barragán, Tim Embley
Abstract
In this work we introduce a green inventory routing problem termed the Stochastic Inventory Routing Problem on Electric Roads (S-IRP-ER), in which a hybrid vehicle navigates a road network with charging opportunities in some road sections, to cover the non-stationary stochastic demand of a single product for a set of retailers in the network. We model the problem using isochrone graphs to represent the real road network. In an isochrone graph nodes are located such that the time to travel any arc is constant all over the network. This allows for tracking the battery level of the vehicle serving retailers, as it charges and discharges continuously while travelling. We formulate a mathematical programming heuristics and prove its effectiveness. We use our model on a realistic instance of the problem, showcasing the different strategies that a vehicle may follow depending on fuel costs in relation to the costs of electricity.