Operational Research Application to Resources Distribution Related to the COVID-19 in Cuba

• Autor(a) principal: Martínez-López, Yoan
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Oquendo, Hilda, Caballero, Yaile, Guerra-Rodríguez, Luis Eduardo, Junco-Villegas, Raudel, Benítez, Isnel, Rodríguez, Ansel, Madera, Julio
• Tipo de documento: preprint
• Idioma: spa
• Título da fonte: SciELO Preprints
• Texto Completo: https://preprints.scielo.org/index.php/scielo/preprint/view/988
• topic: Vehicle Routing Problem; Operations Research; Metaheuristics; COVID-19; Decision Making; Enrutamiento de Vehículos; Metaheurísticas; COVID-19; Toma de Decisiones; Investigación de Operaciones

Objective: The objective of this work is the application of the vehicle routing problem and its solution with optimization algorithms to the distribution of resources related to the COVID-19 treatment in Camagüey, Cuba, allowing decision making by health managers. Methods: Heterogeneous vehicle routing problems with time windows were used, combined with optimization algorithms to obtain the solution to the distribution of these resources. Main results: It was experimented with a total of 15 models to study the behavior of the algorithms applied to the problem, using the CVRP library, implemented in MATLAB. Three metaheuristics models were implemented: Estimation of Distributions Algorithms, Simulated Annealing and Variable Neighborhood Search. From the modelled problem, it was proceeded to solve the FSMVRPTW problem using EDA, SA and VNS algorithms, the latter being used because it has an open-source implementation in Excel. Conclusions: The studies about the vehicle routing problem have demonstrated its usefulness in different complex situations as pandemic, to optimize the distribution of resources. In COVID-19 times, having an optimal transport organization to distribute medical resources is a necessary tool for the decision-making process of the health managers in Camagüey, these results can be extended to the rest of provinces in Cuba.