Modelling and solving for ready-mixed concrete scheduling problems with time dependence (Q391727)

Summary: In this paper, we present a formulation for the ready-mixed concrete scheduling problems with time-dependent travel time. Traffic congestion is a major problem for the business of delivering RMC. It may lead to late deliveries of RMC to construction sites, and because RMC is perishable, late deliveries also mean large additional costs for both batch plants and the construction companies. Additional costs caused by traffic congestion can be reduced by taking predictable traffic congestion into account in the process of scheduling. For this purpose we develop a model with consideration of traffic congestion of RMC which uses a heuristic approach based on local search algorithm to solve. A detailed case study based on industrial data is used to illustrate the potential of the proposed approach.