Particle Swarm Optimization for the Vehicle Routing Problem: A Survey and a Comparative Analysis

20 Years of Particle Swarm Optimization Strategies for the Vehicle Routing Problem: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…Due to consistent database citation records, however, the bibliographic coupling figure is more distinct. The same work by Marinakis et al [7,30,31] is seen on the far-right purple cluster, and that of Goksal [40] and Ai and Kachitvichyanukul [22] in the central green cluster. However, this green cluster also contains the work of Kim and Son [28], who expressed a simple solution approach by encoding directed probability matrices into solution particles for use in standard graph theory applications.…”

“…The work of by Kennedy and Eberhart [15] and Dantzig and Ramzer [3] once again appear to form the green right cluster, but another distinct source by Clarke and Wright [59], who described vehicle scheduling from a central depot, also appears in this cluster. Similarly, the research by Marinakis et al [7,30,31], Ai and Kachitvichyanukul [22], and Solomon [47] also reappear in the left red cluster. One additional distinct source by Chen et al [43], who dealt with hybridizing PSO with simulated annealing to escape local optima, is found (Figure 13).…”

“…Three main clusters are found in Figure 10: the most central red cluster includes the works by Goksal et al [40], Gong et al [25], and Potvin et al [36]; they considered pickup, delivery, time windows, and evolutionary algorithms. The rightmost green cluster shows the work of Marinakis et al [7,30,31], who addressed hybrid genetic PSO and stochastic demands. Ai and Kachitvichyanukul [22] introduced the GLNPSO variant to solve for capacitated vehicle routing.…”

“…Although PSO has received extensive research since its discovery in 1995, the first main intersection between PSO and VRP research only occurred about 10 years later (Marinakis [7]). Since then, PSO and VRP research on particle swarm optimization and vehicle routing problem solution strategies has become a well-recognized field of study.…”

“…To the best of our knowledge, while there has been a substantial number of literature reviews made on metaheuristic methods for the vehicle routing problem, few have included bibliometric study as a supporting methodology, and only one has focused explicitly on particle swarm optimization using a manual review approach. Thus, a novel research gap exists with respect to a bibliometric review on particle swarm optimization for the vehicle routing problem, outlined in Table 1 [7][8][9][10]:…”