Discrete facility location,   Distribution center,   Logistics,   Inventory policy,   Queueing theory,   Markov processes, The distribution center location problem is a crucial question for logistics decision makers. The optimization of these decisions needs careful attention to the fixed facility costs, inventory costs, transportation costs and customer responsiveness. In this paper we stu...

Many important problems in communication networks, transportation networks, and logistics networks are solved by the minimization of cost functions. In general, these can be complex optimization problems involving many variables. However, physicists noted that in a network, a node variable (such as the amount of resources of the nodes) is connected to a set of link variables (such as the flow c...

The design and management of a multi-stage production/distribution system is one of the most critical problem in logistics and in facility management. This manuscript deals with the so called facility locationallocation problem, i.e. with the simultaneous decisions regarding the design, management, and control of a distribution network. In particular the logistic problem object of this study de...

Optimization of noisy non-linear problems plays a key role in engineering and design problems. These optimization problems can't be solved effectively by using conventional optimization methods. However, metaheuristic algorithms such as Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) seem very efficient to approach in these problems and became very popular. The efficiency of these ...

We studied a logistics network design model composed of plants, warehouses and customers. For designing this integrated model, we had to make two decisions simultaneously; the location of plants and warehouses, and the product distribution from plants to customers through warehouses. We provided a heuristic using the genetic algorithm. The chromosome presents the location of plants and the allo...

During the last decade, the stringent pressures from environmental and social requirements have spurred an interest in designing a reverse logistics (RL) network. The success of a logistics system may depend on the decisions of the facilities locations and vehicle routings. The location-routing problem (LRP) simultaneously locates the facilities and designs the travel routes for vehicles among ...

An efficient humanitarian inventory control model and emergency logistics system plays a crucial role in maintaining reliable flow of vital supplies to the victims located in the shelters and minimizing the impacts of the unforeseen disruptions that can occur. This system should not only allow the efficient usage and distribution of emergency supplies but should also offer the ability to be int...

Traditional vehicle routing problems implicitly assume only one crew operates a vehicle for the entirety of its journey. However, this assumption is violated in many applications arising in humanitarian and military logistics. This paper considers a Joint Vehicle and Crew Routing and Scheduling Problem, in which crews are able to interchange vehicles, resulting in space and time interdependenci...