Title: Solving a novel two-objective facility allocation-routing problem in large-scale emergencies using a two-stage simulated annealing algorithm

Authors: Mahsa Ghandehari; Sayehed Maryam Abdollahi

Addresses: Department of Administrative Sciences and Economics, Isfahan University, Iran ' Department of Management, Islamic Azad University, Najaf Abad Branch, Daneshgah Boulevard, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract: Large-scale emergencies refer to events like major natural disasters, which lead to tremendous demand for medical supplies in a short period. In such cases, because of limited or disrupted local healthcare vehicles, a bulk of medical aids would have to be supplied by national institutions, and the main priority in logistic planning is to decrease the numbers of victims or ulcerous people as much as possible. In this paper, a novel formulation of facility allocation-routing problem (ARP) is presented. In contrast to most studies developed in large-scale emergency problems, we take into consideration the amount of loss due to service delay and unsatisfied demands. This model is defined based on two objectives: 1) minimising total weighted unsatisfied demands, 2) minimising total weighted delay. A two-stage simulated annealing algorithm is also proposed to solve the problem. Several numerical examples are solved to evaluate efficiency of the model and proposed solution.

Keywords: large-scale emergencies; vehicle routing problem; facility allocation; simulated annealing; medical supplies; emergency management; disaster management; crisis management; logistics planning; service delay; unsatisfied demand; emergency logistics; emergency aid.

DOI: 10.1504/IJDSRM.2014.067628

International Journal of Decision Sciences, Risk and Management, 2014 Vol.5 No.3, pp.277 - 292

Received: 24 Jun 2014
Accepted: 06 Nov 2014
Published online: 28 Feb 2015 *

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