Forum Discussion
Unique values in excel
We supply products to 24 shops. Each worker must visit 4 shops daily. However they are not able to meet daily targets due to traffic and the wide distance between shops. I worked out the shortest possible routes to be able to meet the 4 shops daily supply by workers and also to reduce the huge expenses on transports. I had 153 possible routes which will require more workers but I know I only needed 6 unique routes. It took me 2weeks to identify the 6 unique roads (routes) and we will require only 6 workers. Is there a way I could have used excel for this task to save time? I have the 153 possible routes in excel sheet. Eg. are below.
Eg. Office-shop1-shop2-shop3-shop4
4. Office-rita-vida-j son-cross
10. Office-harry-zak-cobby-caba
.
.
92. Office-pap-j son-horny-caba
.
153. Office-maik-richy-abu-bill
Eg. Office-shop1-shop2-shop3-shop4
4. Office-rita-vida-j son-cross
10. Office-harry-zak-cobby-caba
.
.
92. Office-pap-j son-horny-caba
.
153. Office-maik-richy-abu-bill
1 Reply
I think you are not alone in the world with this problem :).
It is commonly known as (TSP) Travelling salesman problem.
The best thing to do is to enter "traveling salesman's problem" in google search, then it will quickly become clear to you (e.g. Wikipedia) what kind of problem you have encountered.
But there are several options on Excel: Implementation of the algorithm in VBA or using an optimization component such as solver.
Examble of a solution proposal with Solver
Examble of a solution proposal with VBA
Furthermore, I wish you much success in your project
Hope I was able to help you with this info.
NikolinoDE
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