Many real-world optimization problems today are multi-objective multi-constraint generalizations of NP-hard problems. A classic case we study in this paper is the Inventory Routing Problem with Time Windows (IRPTW). IRPTW considers inventory costs across multiple instances of Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows (VRPTW). The latter is in turn extended with time-windows constraints from the...

Vendor managed inventory replenishment is a business practice in which vendors monitor their customers’ inventories, and decide when and how much inventory should be replenished. The inventory routing problem addresses the coordination of inventory management and transportation. The ability to solve the inventory routing problem contributes to the realization of the potential savings in invento...

An NP-hard production–distribution problem for one product over a multi-period horizon is investigated. The aim is to minimize total cost taking production setups, inventory levels and distribution into account. An integer linear model is proposed as a compact problem specification but it cannot be solved to optimality for large instances. Instead of using a classical two-phase approach (produc...

The Inventory Location-Routing Problem with deterministic demand can be seen as an approach to both optimize a supply chain design and minimize its operational costs. This problem considers that vehicles might deliver products to more than one retailer per route and that inventory management decisions are included for a multi-depot, multi-retailer systemwith storage capacity over a discrete tim...

We present a general framework for modeling routing problems based on formulating them as a traditional location problem called the Capacitated Concentrator Location Problem. We apply this framework to two classical routing problems: the Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem and Inventory-Routing Problem. In the former case, the heuristic is proven to be asymptotically optimal for any distributio...

In this paper, we propose a new mathematical model for Capacitated Inventory Routing Problem (CIRP), which considers freshly delivery of perishable products to the customers’ location; otherwise, a reduction in products’ demand may occur. Therefore, we attempt to plan delivering process of products at the right time to avoid extra inventory causing increase in age of products. This ...

The combined operation of distribution and inventory control achieved through a vendor-managed inventory strategy creates a synergetic interaction which benefits supplier and customers. Inventory-Routing Problems (IRPs) arise when inventory and routing decisions must be taken simultaneously, which yields a difficult combinatorial optimization problem. While most IRP research deals with a single...

Two of the most complex activities in production and operations management (POM) are inventory planning and operations scheduling. This chapter presents two problems related to these activities, namely, the capacitated lot-sizing and scheduling problem and the capacitated vehicle routing problem. For each of these problems, the authors discuss several solution methods, present a competitive gen...

Non-uniform distribution of customers in a region and variation of their maximum willingness to pay at distinct areas make regional pricing a practical method to maximize the profit of the distribution system. By subtracting the classic objective function, which minimizes operational costs from revenue function, profit maximization is aimed. A distribution network is designed by determining the...

An integrated model considers all parameters and elements of different deficiencies in one problem. This paper presents a new integrated model of a supply chain that simultaneously considers facility location, vehicle routing and inventory control problems as well as their interactions in one problem, called location-routing-inventory (LRI) problem. This model also considers stochastic demands ...