A tabu search heuristic procedure for the capacitated facility location problem

A tabu search heuristic procedure is developed, implemented and computationally tested for the capacitated facility location problem. The procedure uses different memory structures. Visited solutions are stored in a primogenitary linked quad tree. For each facility, the recent move at which the facility changed its status and the frequency it has been open are also stored. These memory structures are used to guide the main search process as well as the diversification and intensification processes. Lower bounds on the decreases of total cost are used to measure the attractiveness of the moves and to select moves in the search process. A specialized network algorithm is developed to exploit the problem structure in solving transportation problems. Criterion altering, solution reconciling and path relinking are used to perform intensification functions. The performance of the procedure is tested through computational experiments using test problems from the literature and new test problems randomly generated. It found optimal solutions for almost all test problems from the literature. As compared to the heuristic method of Lagrangean relaxation with improved subgradient scheme, the tabu search heuristic procedure found much better solutions using much less CPU time.     

A fast heuristic for solving a large-scale static dial-a-ride problem under complex constraints

This paper presents a heuristic, which concentrates on solving a large-scale static dial-a-ride problem bearing complex constraints. In this heuristic, a properly organized local search strategy and a diversification strategy are used to improve initial solutions. Then the improved solutions can be refined further by an intensification strategy. The performance of this heuristic was evaluated by intensive computational tests on some randomly generated instances. Small gaps to the lower bounds from the column generation method were obtained in very short time for instances with no more than 200 requests. Although the result is not sensitive to the initial solution, the computational time can be greatly reduced if some effort is spent to construct a good initial solution. With this good initial solution, larger instances up to 2000 requests were solved in less than 10 hours on a popular personal computer.     

Density Based Problem Space Search for the Capacitated Clustering p-Median Problem

In the Capacitated Clustering Problem (CCP), a given set of n weighted points is to be partitioned into p clusters such that, the total weight of the points in each cluster does not exceed a given cluster capacity. The objective is to find a set of p centers that minimises total scatter of points allocated to them. In this paper a new constructive method, a general framework to improve the performance of greedy constructive heuristics, and a problem space search procedure for the CCP are proposed. The constructive heuristic finds patterns of natural subgrouping in the input data using concept of density of points. Elements of adaptive computation and periodic construction–deconstruction concepts are implemented within the constructive heuristic to develop a general framework for building efficient heuristics. The problem-space search procedure is based on perturbations of input data for which a controlled perturbation strategy, intensification and diversification strategies are developed. The implemented algorithms are compared with existing methods on a standard set of bench-marks and on new sets of large-sized instances. The results illustrate the strengths of our algorithms in terms of solution quality and computational efficiency.     

An effective heuristic for large-scale capacitated facility location problems

The Capacitated Facility Location Problem (CFLP) consists of locating a set of facilities with capacity constraints to satisfy the demands of a set of clients at the minimum cost. In this paper we propose a simple and effective heuristic for large-scale instances of CFLP. The heuristic is based on a Lagrangean relaxation which is used to select a subset of “promising” variables forming the core problem and on a Branch-and-Cut algorithm that solves the core problem. Computational results on very large scale instances (up to 4 million variables) are reported.     

A hybrid iterated local search heuristic for the maximum weight independent set problem

This paper presents a hybrid iterated local search (ILS) algorithm for the maximum weight independent set (MWIS) problem, a generalization of the classical maximum independent set problem. Two efficient neighborhood structures are proposed and they are explored using the variable neighborhood descent procedure. Moreover, we devise a perturbation mechanism that dynamically adjusts the balance between intensification and diversification during the search. The proposed algorithm was tested on two well-known benchmarks (DIMACS-W and BHOSLIB-W) and the results obtained were compared with those found by state-of-the-art heuristics and exact methods. Our heuristic outperforms the best-known heuristic for the MWIS as well as the best heuristics for the maximum weight clique problem. The results also show that the hybrid ILS was capable of finding all known optimal solutions in milliseconds.     

A two-echelon stochastic facility location model for humanitarian relief logistics

We develop a two-stage stochastic programming model for a humanitarian relief logistics problem where decisions are made for pre- and post-disaster rescue centers, the amount of relief items to be stocked at the pre-disaster rescue centers, the amount of relief item flows at each echelon, and the amount of relief item shortage. The objective is to minimize the total cost of facility location, inventory holding, transportation and shortage. The deterministic equivalent of the model is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming model and solved by a heuristic method based on Lagrangean relaxation. Results on randomly generated test instances show that the proposed solution method exhibits good performance up to 25 scenarios. We also validate our model by calculating the value of the stochastic solution and the expected value of perfect information.     

Adaptive Tabu Search for course timetabling

This paper presents an Adaptive Tabu Search algorithm (denoted by ATS) for solving a problem of curriculum-based course timetabling. The proposed algorithm follows a general framework composed of three phases: initialization, intensification and diversification. The initialization phase constructs a feasible initial timetable using a fast greedy heuristic. Then an adaptively combined intensification and diversification phase is used to reduce the number of soft constraint violations while maintaining the satisfaction of hard constraints. The proposed ATS algorithm integrates several distinguished features such as an original double Kempe chains neighborhood structure, a penalty-guided perturbation operator and an adaptive search mechanism. Computational results show the high effectiveness of the proposed ATS algorithm, compared with five reference algorithms as well as the current best known results. This paper also shows an analysis to explain which are the essential ingredients of the ATS algorithm.     

求解带时间窗车辆路径问题的混合Memetic算法

为提高带时间窗车辆路径问题的求解精度和求解效率,设计了一种混合Memetic算法。采用基于时间窗升序排列的混合插入法构造初始种群,提高解质量的同时兼顾多样性,扩大搜索空间;任意选择组成父代种群,以维持搜索空间;运用简化的变邻域搜索进行局部开发,引入邻域半径减少策略提高开发效率,约束放松机制开放局部空间;以弧为对象,增加种群向当前最优解和全局最优解的后学习过程。实验结果表明,所提出的算法具有较好的寻优精度和稳定性,能搜索到更好的路径长度结果,更新了现有研究在最短路径长度的目标函数上的下限。     

A Tabu Search Heuristic Procedure for Solving the Transportation Problem with Exclusionary Side Constraints

A new heuristic procedure for the transportation problem with exclusionary side constraints is developed and implemented. Tabu search, a meta-heuristic method, is used to guide the search to follow a path selectively to prevent from being trapped at local optimal solutions in order to find a global optimal or near global optimal solution. The simplex method on a graph is employed to lead the search from one solution to an adjacent solution in order to take advantage of the underlying network structure of the problem. In the procedure, net changes in cost and in infeasibility are used to measure the attractiveness of a move, and strategic oscillation is used to implement the intensification and diversification functions. A computational experiment was conducted to test the performance of the heuristic procedure and substantial computational results are reported. These results show that the new heuristic procedure finds very good quality solutions and outperforms an existing heuristic procedure in terms of both solution quality and CPU time.     

Scatter Search for the 0–1 Multidimensional Knapsack Problem

The evolutionary metaheuristic called scatter search has been applied successfully to optimization problems for several years. In this paper, we apply the scatter search technique to the well-known 0–1 multidimensional knapsack problem. We propose a new relaxation-based diversification generator, which produces an initial population with elite solutions. The computational results obtained for a set of classic and correlated instances clearly show that (1) this generator can also be used as a heuristic for solving the multidimensional knapsack problem; (2) using the population produced by our generator as a starting point for the scatter search algorithm leads to better performance. We also enhance the scatter search algorithm by integrating memory and by using adapted intensification phases. Overall, the results are interesting and competitive compared to other population-based algorithms, such as genetic algorithms.      

A complex time based construction heuristic for batch scheduling problems in the chemical industry

In this paper we investigate a heuristic for batch processing problems occurring in the chemical industry, where the objective is to minimize the makespan. Usually, this kind of problem is solved using mixed-integer linear programs. However, due to the large number of binary variables good results within a reasonable computational time could only be obtained for small instances.We propose an iterative construction algorithm which alternates between construction and deconstruction phases. Moreover, we suggest diversification and intensification strategies in order to obtain good suboptimal solutions within moderate running times. Computational results show the power of this algorithm.     

Path relinking for the vehicle routing problem

This paper describes a tabu search heuristic with path relinking for the vehicle routing problem. Tabu search is a local search method that explores the solution space more thoroughly than other local search based methods by overcoming local optima. Path relinking is a method to integrate intensification and diversification in the search. It explores paths that connect previously found elite solutions. Computational results show that tabu search with path relinking is superior to pure tabu search on the vehicle routing problem.     

Lagrangean heuristic for primary routes assignment in survivable connection-oriented networks

Our discussion in this article centers on the application of a Lagrangean relaxation and a subgradient optimization technique to the problem of primary route assignment (PRA) in survivable connection-oriented networks. The PRA problem consists in a static optimization of primary routes minimizing the Lost Flow in Node (LFN) function. The major contribution of this work is a combination of the Lagrangean relaxation with other heuristic algorithms. We evaluate the performance of the proposed Lagrangean-based heuristic by making a comparison with their counterparts including evolutionary algorithm and GRASP using various network topologies and demand patterns. The results of simulation tests show that the new algorithm provides sub-optimal results, which are better than other heuristics.     

Lagrangean/surrogate relaxation for generalized assignment problems

This work presents Lagrangean/surrogate relaxation to the problem of maximum profit assignment of n tasks to m agents (n > m), such that each task is assigned to only one agent subject to capacity constraints on the agents. The Lagrangean/surrogate relaxation combines usual Lagrangean and surrogate relaxations relaxing first a set of constraints in the surrogate way. Then, the Lagrangean relaxation of the surrogate constraint is obtained and approximately optimized (one-dimensional dual). The Lagrangean/surrogate is compared with the usual Lagrangean relaxation on a computational study using a large set of instances. The dual bounds are the same for both relaxations, but the Lagrangean/surrogate can give improved local bounds at the application of a subgradient method, resulting in less computational times. Three relaxations are derived for the problem. The first relaxation considers a vector of multipliers for the capacity constraints, the second for the assignment constraints and the other for the Lagrangean decomposition constraints. Relaxation multipliers are used with efficient constructive heuristics to find good feasible solutions. The application of a Lagrangean/surrogate approach seems very promising for large scale problems.     

Solving the clique partitioning problem as a maximally diverse grouping problem

In this paper we show that the clique partitioning problem can be reformulated in an equivalent form as the maximally diverse grouping problem (MDGP). We then modify a skewed general variable neighborhood search (SGVNS) heuristic that was first developed to solve the MDGP. Similarly as with the MDGP, significant improvements over the state of the art are obtained when SGVNS is tested on large scale instances. This further confirms the usefulness of a combined approach of diversification afforded with skewed VNS and intensification afforded with the local search in general VNS.     

Tabu search for the linear ordering problem with cumulative costs

Given a matrix of weights, the Linear Ordering Problem (LOP) consists of finding a permutation of the columns and rows in order to maximize the sum of the weights in the upper triangle. This well known NP-complete problem can also be formulated on a complete weighted graph, where the objective is to find an acyclic tournament that maximizes the sum of arc weights. The variant of the LOP that we target here was recently introduced and adds a cumulative non-linear propagation of the costs to the sum of the arc weights. We first review the previous methods for the LOP and for this variant with cumulative costs (LOPCC) and then propose a heuristic algorithm for the LOPCC, which is based on the Tabu Search (TS) methodology. Our method achieves search intensification and diversification through the implementation of both short and long term memory structures. Our extensive experimentation with 224 instances shows that the proposed procedure outperforms existing methods in terms of solution quality and has reasonable computing-time requirements.     

Material allocation in MRP with tardiness penalties

In this paper, we address some flaws in the material allocation function of Materials Requirements Planning (MRP). The problem formulation differs from standard MRP logic in certain important ways: start and finish times for orders are forced to be realistic and material allocations are made to minimize the total tardiness penalty associated with late completion. We show that the resulting MRP material allocation problem is NP-hard in the strong sense. A lower bound and a heuristic are developed from a mixed integer linear formulation and its Lagrangean relaxation. The lower bound and the heuristics are closer to the optimum in cases where there is either abundant material or considerable competition for material; in intermediate cases, small perturbations in material allocation can have a significant effect. A group of heuristics based on the MRP approach and its modifications is examined; they are optimal under certain conditions. An improvement method that preserves priorities inherent in any given starting solution is also presented. The Lagrangean heuristic performs better than the MRP based heuristics for a set of 3900 small problems, yielding solutions that are about 5% to 10% over the optimal. The best MRP based heuristic does about as well as the Lagrangean heuristic on a set of 120 larger problems, and is 25% to 40% better than the standard MRP approach, on the data sets tested.     

Lagrangean relaxation

This paper reviews some of the most intriguing results and questions related to Lagrangean relaxation. It recalls essential properties of the Lagrangean relaxation and of the Lagrangean function, describes several algorithms to solve the Lagrangean dual problem, and considers Lagrangean heuristics, ad-hoc or generic, because these are an integral part of any Lagrangean approximation scheme. It discusses schemes that can potentially improve the Lagrangean relaxation bound, and describes several applications of Lagrangean relaxation, which demonstrate the flexibility of the approach, and permit either the computation of strong bounds on the optimal value of the MIP problem, or the use of a Lagrangean heuristic, possibly followed by an iterative improvement heuristic. The paper also analyzes several interesting questions, such as why it is sometimes possible to get a strong bound by solving simple problems, and why an a-priori weaker relaxation can sometimes be “just as good” as an a-priori stronger one.     

Scatter search for project scheduling with resource availability cost

This paper considers a project scheduling problem with the objective of minimizing resource availability costs, taking into account a deadline for the project and precedence relations among the activities. Exact methods have been proposed for solving this problem, but we are not aware of existing heuristic methods. Scatter search is used to tackle this problem, and our implementation incorporates advanced strategies such as dynamic updating of the reference set, the use of frequency-based memory within the diversification generator, and a combination method based on path relinking. We also analyze the merit of employing a subset of different types when combining solutions. Extensive computational experiments involving more than 2400 instances are performed. For small instances, the performance of the proposed procedure is compared to optimal solutions generated by an exact cutting plane algorithm and upper and lower bounds from the literature. For medium and larger size instances, we developed simple multi-start heuristics and comparative results are reported.     

Reactive tabu adaptive memory programming search for the vehicle routing problem with backhauls

A heuristic approach based on a hybrid operation of reactive tabu search (RTS) and adaptive memory programming (AMP) is proposed to solve the vehicle routing problem with backhauls (VRPB). The RTS is used with an escape mechanism which manipulates different neighbourhood schemes in a sophisticated way in order to get a continuously balanced intensification and diversification during the search process. The adaptive memory strategy takes the search back to the unexplored regions of the search space by maintaining a set of elite solutions and using them strategically with the RTS. The AMP feature brings an extra robustness to the search process that resulted in early convergence when tested on most of the VRPB instances. We compare our algorithm against the best methods in the literature and report new best solutions for several benchmark problems.