Title: A linear MmTSP formulation of robust location-routing problem: a dairy products supply chain case study

Authors: Javid Jouzdani; Mohammad Fathian

Addresses: School of Industrial Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 163-16765, Narmak, Tehran, Iran ' School of Industrial Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 163-16765, Narmak, Tehran, Iran

Abstract: The location-routing problem (LRP), which integrates location and routing decisions, has been an attraction to both researchers and practitioners. LRP as an important business problem has its own inherent uncertainty; especially, considering phenomena such as traffic congestion and weather conditions and their impact on transportation costs, routing in LRP is subject to uncertainty. In this paper, we propose a multi-depot multi-travelling salesman problem (MmTSP) formulation of robust LRP (RLRP) considering uncertainty in transportation costs. In addition, an appropriate technique is utilised to linearise the RLRP model. In order to justify the applicability of the proposed model, a dairy products supply chain case study is provided. Furthermore, comprehensive numerical examples are presented to characterise the performance of the proposed model.

Keywords: location routing problem; LRP; multi-depot multi-TSP; travelling salesman problem; MmTSP; linearisation; robust optimisation; supply chain management; SCM; dairy products; dairy supply chains; uncertainty; transport costs.

DOI: 10.1504/IJADS.2014.063231

International Journal of Applied Decision Sciences, 2014 Vol.7 No.3, pp.327 - 342

Received: 29 Oct 2013
Accepted: 07 Dec 2013
Published online: 19 Jul 2014 *

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