Heuristic Approaches for a Dual Optimization Problem

The current crisis in the global economy and the stiff competition has led many firms to recognize the importance of managing their logistic network for organizational effectiveness, improved customer value, better utilization of resources, and increased profitability. The logistics business in Spain continues rising mainly by the new electronics market. In 2008 the turnover of logistics activities was 3.745 m€, 1.5% compared to previous year. Despite the upward trend, the strategic sector analysis done by DBK shows that the problem of declining business performance of the sector is as a result of rising fuel prices. The same study claim that the industry is in a process of concentration, with the disappearance of small operators (DBK (2009)). This requires that firms need to optimize its efficiency, e.g. recalculating the routes in order to minimize costs. To reduce the logistics costs related to transportation routes is a goal sought by all firms, where the transportation costs are easily controlled in the value chain.