We develop a two stage model of a manufacturing supply chain. This two stage production transportation model features capacitated production in two stages, and a fixed cost (or concave cost) for transporting the product between the stages. We prove several properties of this model, which we call the Two Stage Production Distribution Problem (2SPDP) model. By placing “non-speculative” assumption...

We investigate a spectrum of decision-making approaches, from centralized to decentralized, within the context of scheduling direct and indirect (via a hub) trains and assigning containers to trains for the rail (linehaul) portion of the intermodal trip. The goal is to minimize operating costs, including a fixed charge for each train, variable transportation and handling costs for each containe...

The multicommodity capacitated fixed charge network design problem is a well-known NPhard problem which arises in a wide variety of applications, most notably in transportation and telecommunications. In this paper, we propose to improve the mixed integer programming (MIP) formulation of the problem by using a polyhedral approach. We present a cutting-plane algorithm which incorporates valid in...

The fixed-charge network design problem arises in a variety of problem contexts including transportation, communication, and production scheduling. We develop a family of dual ascent algorithms for this problem. This approach generalizes known ascent procedures for solving shortest path, plant location, Steiner network and directed spanning tree problems. Our computational results for several c...

Intermodal freight transportation is concerned with shipping of commodities from their origin to destination using combinations of transport modes. Traditional logistics models have concentrated on minimizing transportation costs by appropriately determining the service network and the transportation routing. This paper considers an intermodal transportation problem with an explicit considerati...

We introduce the concept of continuous transportation task to the context of multi-agent systems. A continuous transportation task is one in which a multi-agent team visits a number of fixed locations, picks up objects, and delivers them to a transportation hub. The goal is to maximize the rate of transportation while the objects are replenished over time . In this extended abstract, we present...

We introduce the concept of continuous transportation task to the context of multi-agent systems. A continuous transportation task is one in which a multi-agent team visits a number of fixed locations, picks up objects, and delivers them to a transportation hub. The goal is to maximize the rate of transportation while the objects are replenished over time . In this extended abstract, we present...

Today, transportation is one of the substructure parts of society that not only affects the economical growth process, but also is changed in development. The transportation substructure is one of the substructure parts of services has an important position in the economical development of countries. An efficient and appropriate transportation network causes goods transportation and services co...