Application Of Evolutionary Algorithm In Supply Chain Management

One important aspect of supply chain management is the maintenance of an efficient and costeffective system for the distribution of goods or products to retailing outlets. Nowadays, it is almost inevitable that an efficient distribution network can only be achieved with the support of computer based optimization software. We show in this paper how an evolutionary algorithm (EA) can play an effective role in this aspect. Besides being an effective and efficient optimization tool capable of handling problems of significant computational complexity, it enjoys great flexibility in coping with the constraints of typical real-life supply chain problems. Our work considers the problem of managing a distribution network for replenishing the supply of fuel to refuelling stations located all over the island. It is designed to generate a set of routes for a fleet of fuel trucks. The trucks are dispatched according to a pre-specified plan to replenish the supply of the various refuelling stations subject to several dynamic constraints. Our solution methodology is an EA capable of generating approximate solutions with reasonable computational time.