Fruit and Vegetable Distribution with Soft Time Windows Based on an Improved Genetic Algorithm

In order to investigate the impacts of vibration,shock and collision on fresh fruits and vegetables during transportation,an improved genetic algorithm model is developed based on the soft time windows,pavement roughness and road grades.The objective of this model is to minimize the delivery costs of the suppliers by improving objective func-tion,fitness function and crossover operator.Furthermore,comparison analyses are conducted among improved genetic algorithm,original order crossover (OX)genetic algorithm and group-order crossover genetic algorithm with a focus on the transport routes of fresh fruits and vegetables among 13 cities in the Jiangsu province as a case study.The results indi-cate that the proposed model provide 1 5.3% higher accuracy of delivery cost estimation over the conventional models.