Optrak Distribution Software Ltd today announced that Tim Pigden will be delivering technical seminars on the subject of computerised modelling of real-world vehicle routing problems at a number of UK academic institutions using real case studies to highlight the challenges involved.

Academic research into vehicle routing, known as the vehicle routing problem (VRP), has traditionally concentrated on a few well-defined, but greatly simplified, problem types. These seminars are part of a move to establish a more comprehensive framework for representing the complexity of real-world problems that can be used to more closely align academic research and actual logistics requirements.

Since co-founding Optrak in 1988, Tim Pigden, Managing Director of Optrak has seen the demands of transport and logistics operators change enormously. Due to the complexity involved in many of today’s supply chains there are instances where software systems cannot offer a good solution to the vehicle routing problem and fleet operators rely on manual planning.  This leads to higher transport costs and lost opportunities to increase operational efficiency.

Pigden commented, “Forging closer links between commercial vehicle routing software vendors and the next generation of students and academic research will be of benefit to all parties. Our long term goal is to foster an environment where new and innovative techniques can be developed to solve the vehicle routing problem that will ultimately lead to more sophisticated vehicle routing solutions for different transport problems.”

A key part of Pigden’s seminars will be an examination of a vehicle routing case study that illustrates the challenges involved in using routing software for the newspaper industry.

After a successful seminar at Warwick University on 1st December 2010, the next seminar will take place at Nottingham University in February 2011.

If you represent a University or other academic institution, are engaged in research into the vehicle routing problem and would like to discuss this further, please visit the Optrak website and get in touch via the form on Optrak.com/contact-us.