A modified ant colony optimization algorithm for multi-item inventory routing problems with demand uncertainty

This paper addresses an integrated model that schedules multi-item replenishment with uncertain demand to determine delivery routes and truck loads, where the actual replenishment quantity only becomes known upon arrival at a demand location. This paper departs from the conventional ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm, which minimizes total travel length, and incorporates the attraction of pheromone values that indicate the stockout costs on nodes. The contributions of the paper to the literature are made both in terms of modeling this combined multi-item inventory management with the vehicle-routing problem and in introducing a modified ACO for the inventory routing problem.

[1]  Feng Chu,et al.  A solution approach to the inventory routing problem in a three-level distribution system , 2011, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[2]  Eric R. Zieyel.  Operations research : applications and algorithms , 1988 .

[3]  Awi Federgruen,et al.  One warehouse multiple retailer systems with vehicle routing costs , 1990 .

[4]  Marco Dorigo,et al.  Ant algorithms and stigmergy , 2000, Future Gener. Comput. Syst..

[5]  Moshe Dror,et al.  Delivery Cost Approximations for Inventory Routing Problems in a Rolling Horizon Framework , 2002, Transp. Sci..

[6]  Martin W. P. Savelsbergh,et al.  The Stochastic Inventory Routing Problem with Direct Deliveries , 2002, Transp. Sci..

[7]  Awi Federgruen,et al.  Two-Echelon Distribution Systems with Vehicle Routing Costs and Central Inventories , 1993, Oper. Res..

[8]  B. Bullnheimer,et al.  A NEW RANK BASED VERSION OF THE ANT SYSTEM: A COMPUTATIONAL STUDY , 1997 .

[9]  Martin W. P. Savelsbergh,et al.  An optimization algorithm for the inventory routing problem with continuous moves , 2008, Comput. Oper. Res..

[10]  Randolph W. Hall,et al.  Distribution Strategies that Minimize Transportation and Inventory Costs , 1985, Oper. Res..

[11]  Luca Bertazzi.  Analysis of Direct Shipping Policies in an Inventory-Routing Problem with Discrete Shipping Times , 2008, Manag. Sci..

[12]  H. Edwin Romeijn,et al.  An Integrated Inventory-Routing System for Multi-item Joint Replenishment with Limited Vehicle Capacity , 2005, J. Glob. Optim..

[13]  Angus R. Simpson,et al.  Parametric study for an ant algorithm applied to water distribution system optimization , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation.

[14]  H. C. Lau,et al.  Solving Multi-Objective Multi-Constrained Optimization Problems Using Hybrid Ants System and Tabu Search , 2003 .

[15]  Riccardo Poli,et al.  New ideas in optimization , 1999 .

[16]  S. Disney,et al.  THE IMPACT OF VENDOR MANAGED INVENTORY ON TRANSPORT OPERATIONS , 2003 .

[17]  Moshe Dror,et al.  A Decomposition Approach to the Inventory Routing Problem with Satellite Facilities , 1998, Transp. Sci..

[18]  Marco Dorigo,et al.  Ant colony optimization theory: A survey , 2005, Theor. Comput. Sci..

[19]  Alan J. Stenger,et al.  Comparing strategies for addressing delivery shortages in stochastic demand settings , 1999 .

[20]  Richard F. Hartl,et al.  D-Ants: Savings Based Ants divide and conquer the vehicle routing problem , 2004, Comput. Oper. Res..

[21]  Kamlesh Mathur,et al.  Stochastic Vehicle Routing Problem with Restocking , 2000, Transp. Sci..

[22]  Teodor Gabriel Crainic,et al.  Fleet management and logistics , 1998 .

[23]  Jens Lysgaard,et al.  A branch-and-price algorithm for the capacitated vehicle routing problem with stochastic demands , 2007, Oper. Res. Lett..

[24]  Luca Bertazzi,et al.  A Branch-and-Cut Algorithm for a Vendor-Managed Inventory-Routing Problem , 2007, Transp. Sci..

[25]  M. Savelsbergh,et al.  The Inventory Routing Problem , 1998 .

[26]  G. Clarke,et al.  Scheduling of Vehicles from a Central Depot to a Number of Delivery Points , 1964 .

[27]  Martin W. P. Savelsbergh,et al.  A Decomposition Approach for the Inventory-Routing Problem , 2004, Transp. Sci..

[28]  Daniel Adelman,et al.  A Price-Directed Approach to Stochastic Inventory/Routing , 2004, Oper. Res..

[29]  É. Taillard,et al.  MACS-VRPTW: a multiple ant colony system for vehicle routing problems with time windows , 1999 .

[30]  Marco Dorigo,et al.  Ant system: optimization by a colony of cooperating agents , 1996, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. Part B.

[31]  Guillermo Gallego,et al.  On the effectiveness of direct shipping strategy for the one-warehouse multi-retailer R -systems , 1990 .

[32]  Holger H. Hoos,et al.  Improving the Ant System: A Detailed Report on the MAX-MIN Ant System , 1996 .

[33]  James H. Bookbinder,et al.  An integrated inventory-transportation system with modified periodic policy for multiple products , 1999, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[34]  Richard F. Hartl,et al.  An improved Ant System algorithm for theVehicle Routing Problem , 1999, Ann. Oper. Res..

[35]  Marius M. Solomon,et al.  Algorithms for the Vehicle Routing and Scheduling Problems with Time Window Constraints , 1987, Oper. Res..