The encyclopedia · Engineering & Operations · Technical decision · 2019–2022
C.H. Robinson beat its old routing tech on 10 benchmarks with one framework
C.H. Robinson built a set-partitioning routing framework that outperformed its third-party tools on 10 benchmark instances and cut setup time per customer.
C.H. Robinson
the move
C.H. Robinson (CHR), a global freight provider, faces 'rich' vehicle routing problems daily: each customer has distinct objectives and constraints.
CHR previously relied on third-party routing technologies, each tuned to a specific problem type, which meant long setup times for new customers.
Researchers proposed a set-partitioning framework with several route-generation algorithms; it outperformed the existing technologies at CHR on 10 benchmark instances.
The framework, wrapped in a simple user interface, was integrated into CHR's transportation planning and execution platform, reducing setup times and improving planner productivity and customer outcomes.
why it works
- One framework reused algorithms across many problem types.
- Winning 10 benchmark instances gave the evidence needed to replace incumbents.
- A simple UI lowered the barrier to daily use.
- Faster setup turned new customer onboarding from weeks to days.
what transfers
Instead of buying a different routing engine per customer, build one framework that plugs in generators per constraint set; the platform improves instead of the per-case workaround.
what came after
Since implementation, the module has outperformed the previously used third-party technologies, significantly reduced setup times and improved users' productivity as well as customer outcomes; the work was published in INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics (2022) and as an arXiv preprint.
references
- C.H. Robinson Uses Heuristics to Solve Rich Vehicle Routing Problems
- C. H. Robinson Uses Heuristics to Solve Rich Vehicle Routing Problems
- C.H. Robinson Uses Heuristics to Solve Rich Vehicle Routing Problems
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.