routing-formulation

Vehicle routing formulation requires mapping locations, fleet capacities, start and end points, and constraints like time windows, service times, and precedence into a structured optimization problem. You must identify operational entities such as vehicles, orders, and pickup/delivery pairs to translate real needs into a well-specified formulation.

Yes, routing formulation supports precedence constraints for pickup-and-delivery problems, enforcing that pickups occur before corresponding deliveries. This ensures operational rules like service times and task ordering are captured accurately within the optimization formulation.

To start formulating a routing problem, determine whether your scenario is a Traveling Salesman Problem, a Vehicle Routing Problem, or a Pickup-and-Delivery Problem. Then, list the minimum required inputs including locations, fleet details, orders, and constraints to build a complete optimization formulation.

Routing formulation is limited to defining the problem type and specifying required inputs for TSP, VRP, or PDP scenarios. It does not execute the optimization itself; you must provide a clear mapping of vehicles, orders, and constraints before choosing a downstream implementation approach.