Using metaheuristics in solving dispatching problems

This paper presents some aspects of delivery routes organization in companies. It also explains why metaheuristics can be very useful for dispatching computerization. Two main metaheuristics are presented: Tabu Search and Simulated Annealing. The paper briefly presents the way simple metaheuristics can be adapted to ‘solve’ real problems, which are remote from standardized ones such as T.S.P. The approach is illustrated by its application to a case with time windows constraints.