Vehicle Routing Optimization for Medical Product Distribution in Regional Capitals of Burkina Faso: A Linear Programming Approach with Gurobi
- Innovations and Interdisciplinary Solutions for Underserved Areas 8th International Conference, InterSol 2025, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, July 3–4, 2025, Proceedings : 261-267
Résumé
This study presents a MILP based approach to the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) for optimizing medical product distribution in Burkina Faso. The model accounts for critical real-world constraints including restricted areas and road inaccessibility while ensuring equitable service to priority healthcare centers. Implemented using the Gurobi solver, it achieved exact solutions rapidly (662 variables post-preprocessing, 62 constraints) with a near-zero optimality gap. While results demonstrate efficient route allocation, the reliance on synthetically generated data and the model’s static nature limit operational realism. Future improvements will include integration of dynamic variables, field-collected data, and scalable heuristics such as Ant Colony Optimization to enhance adaptability and practical deployment.
Mots-clés
Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP), Medical product distribution, Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP)