Planning for meals-on-wheels: algorithms and application

Home-delivered meals provision, also known as meals-on-wheels, is a volunteer-staffed activity for which little strategic planning is performed. We develop a Memetic Algorithm to solve the Home Delivered Meals Location-Routing Problem. This planning model addresses facility location, allocation of demand to facilities, and design of delivery routes, while balancing efficiency and effectiveness considerations. The case study presented on a large data set shows how trade-off curves, which are very useful for decision making, can be obtained by the method developed.