Optimal Design of the Cross-docking in Distribution Networks: Heuristic Solution Approach

A design problem of cross-docking distribution networks is addressed as a new research area in logistics management. This paper presents a new mathematical model for the location of cross-docking facilities and vehicle routing scheduling problems in distribution networks. For this purpose, a two-phase mixed-integer programming (MIP) is formulated. Then, a new heuristic-based simulated annealing (SA) is developed for solving the proposed MIP model. Finally, the presented heuristic algorithm is subsequently tested on a number of small and large-scale instances. The computational results for different-sized instances illustrate that the proposed algorithm performs effectively in the reasonable time.