A general variable neighborhood search-based solution approach for the location-inventory-routing problem with distribution outsourcing

摘要

This work presents a Mixed Integer Programing (MIP) formulation for a new complex NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem, the Location Inventory Routing with Distribution Outsourcing (LIRPDO). Due to its computational complexity, only small problem instances can be solved by exact solvers. Therefore, a General Variable Neighborhood Search (GVNS)-based metaheuristic algorithm for solving large LIRPDO instances is presented. The proposed approach has been tested on 20 new randomly generated LIRPDO instances, 20 existing benchmark LIRP instances from the literature and 30 new large-scale random generated LIRP instances. An extended numerical analysis illustrates the efficiency of the underlying method, leading to acceptable solutions requiring limited computational effort. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.