Combining Heuristics with Simulation and Fuzzy Logic to Solve a Flexible-Size Location Routing Problem under Uncertainty

The location routing problem integrates both a facility location and a vehicle routing problem. Each of these problems are <i>NP-hard</i> in nature, which justifies the use of heuristic-based algorithms when dealing with large-scale instances that need to be solved in reasonable computin...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rafael D. Tordecilla, Pedro J. Copado-Méndez, Javier Panadero, Carlos L. Quintero-Araujo, Jairo R. Montoya-Torres, Angel A. Juan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-01-01
Series:Algorithms
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4893/14/2/45
Description
Summary:The location routing problem integrates both a facility location and a vehicle routing problem. Each of these problems are <i>NP-hard</i> in nature, which justifies the use of heuristic-based algorithms when dealing with large-scale instances that need to be solved in reasonable computing times. This paper discusses a realistic variant of the problem that considers facilities of different sizes and two types of uncertainty conditions. In particular, we assume that some customers’ demands are stochastic, while others follow a fuzzy pattern. An iterated local search metaheuristic is integrated with simulation and fuzzy logic to solve the aforementioned problem, and a series of computational experiments are run to illustrate the potential of the proposed algorithm.
ISSN:1999-4893