A HYBRID ALGORITHM TO SOLVE THE FIXED CHARGE SOLID LOCATION AND TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM

In this paper, we propose a Hybrid Algorithm (HA) to solve the Fixed Charge Solid Location and Transportation problem (FCSLTP). The FCSLTP considers the cost of facility location and route fixed costs during transportation planning or load consolidation. The HA integrates two heuristics into the Genetic Algorithm framework to solve the FCSLTP. Genetic operations are used to select the best combination of facility locations while a greedy heuristic which uses some cost relaxations are used for the initial load allocation. An improvement heuristic, a modified stepping stone method, is then used to consolidate load allocations to realize further possible cost savings. Parameters used for the genetic operations were decided through preliminary studies. Computational studies using randomly generated data were performed to compare the HA solutions with the solutions obtained using CPLEX, a commercial solver. Performance comparison was done based on the quality of solution and computing time. The results suggest the solution approach is competitive.