Glossary · business
Time Windows
The hours in which a delivery or service can be performed — outside this window the visit is either refused or penalized.
Delivery WindowTime Slot
A time window defines the start and end hours when a delivery or service is acceptable. A 'hard' window: visits outside the range are refused. A 'soft' window: visits outside the range are still allowed but penalized in the objective. Time windows show up across last-mile delivery, appointment scheduling, hospital operations, and field-service planning. Any solver-based model must encode this constraint directly.
Örnek
A shop says 'I accept deliveries 09:00-12:00' — that is a hard window. A restaurant says 'before 14:00 is preferred, but later is acceptable' — that is a soft window.