Multi‐mode resource‐constrained project scheduling using modified variable neighborhood search heuristic

This paper aims at providing a fast near‐optimum solution to the multi‐mode resource‐constrained project scheduling problems (MRCPSPs), for projects with activities that have known deterministic renewable and nonrenewable resource requirements. The MRCPSP is known to be nondeterministic polynomial‐time hard and has been solved using various exact, heuristic, and meta‐heuristic procedures. In this paper, a modified variable neighborhood search heuristic algorithm is used as an advanced optimization technique that suits scheduling problems. For the experimental study, we have considered a standard set of 3929 multi‐mode benchmark instances from the project scheduling library with a range of projects comprising 10–30 activities. Moreover, for a better comparison, this research also considers a standard set of 4320 newly developed multi‐mode instances from MMLIB50, MMLIB100, and MMLIB+ datasets. With the limit of 50,000 schedules on these datasets, our proposed algorithm provides better makespan for 106, 34, and 1601 instances, respectively, which justifies the efficiency of the proposed algorithm, particularly for projects with a larger number of activities. The results reported in this paper can be used as a benchmark for other researchers to compare and improve.     

求解约束优化问题的动态邻域粒子群算法*

粒子群算法(PSO)求解约束优化问题存在较严重的早熟收敛现象,为了有效抑制早熟收敛,提出了基于改进的约束自适应方法的动态邻域粒子群算法(IPSO)。算法采用动态邻域策略提高算法的全局搜索能力,设计了一种改进的自适应约束处理方法,根据迭代代数线性增加搜索偏向系数,在早期偏向于搜索可行解,在后期偏向于搜索最优解,并引入序列二次规划增强算法的局部搜索能力。通过基准测试函数实验对比分析,表明该算法对于约束优化问题具有较好的全局收敛性。     

Variable neighborhood search for multi-objective resource allocation problems

The Resource Allocation Problem (RAP) is a classical problem in the field of operations management that has been broadly applied to real problems such as product allocation, project budgeting, resource distribution, and weapon-target assignment. In addition to focusing on a single objective, the RAP may seek to simultaneously optimize several expected but conflicting goals under conditions of resources scarcity. Thus, the single-objective RAP can be intuitively extended to become a Multi-Objective Resource Allocation Problem (MORAP) that also falls in the category of NP-Hard. Due to the complexity of the problem, metaheuristics have been proposed as a practical alternative in the selection of techniques for finding a solution. This study uses Variable Neighborhood Search (VNS) algorithms, one of the extensively used metaheuristic approaches, to solve the MORAP with two important but conflicting objectives—minimization of cost and maximization of efficiency. VNS searches the solution space by systematically changing the neighborhoods. Therefore, proper design of neighborhood structures, base solution selection strategy, and perturbation operators are used to help build a well-balanced set of non-dominated solutions. Two test instances from the literature are used to compare the performance of the competing algorithms including a hybrid genetic algorithm and an ant colony optimization algorithm. Moreover, two large instances are generated to further verify the performance of the proposed VNS algorithms. The approximated Pareto front obtained from the competing algorithms is compared with a reference Pareto front by the exhaustive search method. Three measures are considered to evaluate algorithm performance: D1_R, the Accuracy Ratio, and the number of non-dominated solutions. The results demonstrate the practicability and promise of VNS for solving multi-objective resource allocation problems.     

基于变邻域蚁群算法的自动光学检测路径规划

在确定取像窗口最少数量及其约束移动范围的前提下,为解决蚁群算法用于自动光学检测路径规划存在的问题,提出一种基于变邻域蚁群算法的自动光学检测路径规划方法。针对蚁群算法收敛速度慢、易陷入局部最优解的问题,提出含有3种邻域结构的变邻域路径搜索方法,改进蚁群算法以快速获得质量优异的可优化路径;针对取像窗口位置可调整的问题,提出变邻域窗口位置调整方法,进一步改善可优化路径,获得最短路径。实验结果表明,该算法比基本的蚁群算法具有更高的求解效率和求解质量,有效提升了自动光学检测系统的在线检测效率。     

自适应动态邻域布谷鸟混合算法求解TSP问题

针对离散布谷鸟算法求解旅行商问题时邻域搜索效率低和易陷入局部最优解等问题,提出了一种自适应动态邻域布谷鸟混合算法（Adaptive Dynamic Neighborhood Hybrid Cuckoo Search algorithm,ADNHCS）。为了提升邻域搜索效率,设计了一种圆限定突变的动态邻域结构来降低经典算法的随机性;此外,提出了可根据迭代过程进行自适应参数调整的策略,并结合禁忌搜索算法来提升全局寻优的能力。使用MATLAB和标准TSPLIB数据库中的若干经典算例对算法性能进行了实验仿真,结果表明与其他基于布谷鸟算法、经典和新型群智能优化算法相比,ADNHCS算法在全局寻优能力以及稳定性方面表现更优。     

An efficient variable neighborhood search heuristic for very large scale vehicle routing problems

In this paper, we present an efficient variable neighborhood search heuristic for the capacitated vehicle routing problem. The objective is to design least cost routes for a fleet of identically capacitated vehicles to service geographically scattered customers with known demands. The variable neighborhood search procedure is used to guide a set of standard improvement heuristics. In addition, a strategy reminiscent of the guided local search metaheuristic is used to help escape local minima. The developed solution method is specifically aimed at solving very large scale real-life vehicle routing problems. To speed up the method and cut down memory usage, new implementation concepts are used. Computational experiments on 32 existing large scale benchmarks, as well as on 20 new very large scale problem instances, demonstrate that the proposed method is fast, competitive and able to find high-quality solutions for problem instances with up to 20,000 customers within reasonable CPU times.     

Parallel variable neighborhood search for the min–max order batching problem

Warehousing is a key part of supply chain management. It primarily focuses on controlling the movement and storage of materials within a warehouse and processing the associated transactions, including shipping, receiving, and picking. From the tactical point of view, the main decision is the storage policy, that is, to decide where each product should be located. Every day a warehouse receives several orders from its customers. Each order consists of a list of one or more items that have to be retrieved from the warehouse and shipped to a specific customer. Thus, items must be collected by a warehouse operator. We focus on situations in which several orders are put together into batches, satisfying a fixed capacity constraint. Then, each batch is assigned to an operator, who retrieves all the items included in those orders grouped into the corresponding batch in a single tour. The objective is then to minimize the maximum retrieving time for any batch. In this paper, we propose a parallel variable neighborhood search algorithm to tackle the so‐called min–max order batching problem. We additionally compare this parallel procedure with the best previous approach. Computational results show the superiority of our proposal, confirmed with statistical tests.     

设计稳定约束最小二乘无限冲击响应滤波器的序列最小化方法

无限冲击响应(infinite impulse response, IIR)数字滤波器不具有内禀稳定性, 因此在其实际设计中要施加稳定性约束. 稳定三角形条件是一种充分必要且线性的稳定性约束条件, 为了充分利用该条件, 本文使用基于二阶因子迭代更新的序列最小化技术将IIR滤波器的约束最小二乘设计问题转化为一系列的约束最小二乘子问题, 在每一个子问题中, 有且只有一个二阶分母因子连同整个分子被优化, 其他的二阶分母因子保持不变. 设计实例表明此方法能比现有方法得到性能更好的滤波器.     

A GRASP with adaptive large neighborhood search for pickup and delivery problems with transshipment

The pickup and delivery problem (PDP) has been studied extensively for applications ranging from courier, cargo and postal services, to public transportation. The work presented here was inspired by a daily route planning problem at a regional air carrier who was trying to determine the benefits of transshipment. Accordingly, a primary goal of this paper is identify the circumstances under which measurable cost saving can be achieved when one aircraft transports a request from its origin to an intermediate point and a second aircraft picks it up and delivers it to its final destination. In structuring the analysis, we describe a unique way to model this transshipment option on a directed graph and introduce a specialized two-route insertion heuristic that considers when to exploit this option. Based on the new representation, most existing heuristics for the PDP can be readily extended to handle transshipments.To find solutions, we developed a greedy randomized adaptive search procedure (GRASP) with several novel features. In the construction phase, shipment requests are inserted into routes until all demand is satisfied or no feasible insertion exists. In the improvement phase, an adaptive large neighborhood search algorithm is used to modify portions of the feasible routes. Specialized removal and insertion heuristics were designed for this purpose. In the absence of test cases in the literature, we also developed a procedure for randomly generating problem instances. Testing was done on 56 existing PDP instances which have 50 requests each, and on 50 new data sets with 25 requests each and one transshipment location. For the former, the performance and solution quality of the GRASP were comparable to the best known heuristics. For the latter, GRASP found the solutions within 1% of optimality on 88% of the instances.     

Variable neighborhood search algorithms for the vehicle routing problem with two‐dimensional loading constraints and mixed linehauls and backhauls

In this paper, we explore a vehicle routing problem with two‐dimensional loading constraints and mixed linehauls and backhauls. The addressed problem belongs to a subclass of general pickup and delivery problems. Two‐dimensional loading constraints are also considered. These constraints arise in many real‐world situations and can improve efficiency since backhaul customers do not need to be delayed in a route when it is possible to load their items earlier and without rearrangements of the items. To tackle this problem, we report extensive computational experiments to assess the performance of different variants of the variable neighborhood search approaches. The initial solution relies on an insertion heuristic. Both shaking and local search phases resort to 10 neighborhood structures. Some of those structures were specially developed for this problem. The feasibility of routes is heuristically obtained with a classical bottom‐left based method to tackle the explicit consideration of loading constraints. All the strategies were implemented and exhaustively tested on instances adapted from the literature. The results of this computational study are discussed at the end of this paper.     

Variable neighborhood descent with iterated local search for routing and wavelength assignment

In this work we treat the Routing and Wavelength Assignment (RWA) with focus on minimizing the number of wavelengths to route demand requests. Lightpaths are used to carry the traffic optically between origin-destination pairs. The RWA is subjected to wavelength continuity constraints, and a particular wavelength cannot be assigned to two different lightpaths sharing a common physical link. We develop a Variable Neighborhood Descent (VND) with Iterated Local Search (ILS) for the problem. In a VND phase we try to rearrange requests between subgraphs associated to subsets of a partition of the set of lightpath requests. In a feasible solution, lightpaths belonging to a subset can be routed with the same wavelength. Thus, the purpose is to eliminate one subset of the partition. When VND fails, we perform a ILS phase to disturb the requests distribution among the subsets of the partition. An iteration of the algorithm alternates between a VND phase and a ILS phase. We report computational experiments that show VND-ILS was able to improve results upon powerful methods proposed in the literature.     

Evolutionary structural optimization for stress minimization problems by discrete thickness design

Stress minimization is a major aspect of structural optimization in a wide range of engineering designs. This paper presents a new evolutionary criterion for the problems of variable thickness design whilst minimizing the maximum stress in a structure. On the basis of finite element analysis, a stress sensitivity number is derived to estimate the stress change in an element due to varying the thickness of other elements. Following the evolutionary optimization procedure, an optimal design with a minimum maximum stress is achieved by gradually removing material from those elements, which have the lowest stress sensitivity number or adding material onto those elements, which have the highest stress sensitivity number. The numerical examples presented in this paper demonstrate the capacity of the proposed method for solving stress minimization problems. The results based on the stress criterion are compared with traditional ones based on a stiffness criterion, and an optimization scheme based on the combination of both the stress minimization and the stiffness maximization criteria is presented.     

A variable neighborhood search based approach for uncapacitated multilevel lot-sizing problems

In this paper, an effective approach based on the variable neighborhood search (VNS) algorithm is presented to solve the uncapacitated multilevel lot-sizing (MLLS) problems with component commonality and multiple end-items. A neighborhood structure for the MLLS problem is defined, and two kinds of solution move policies, i.e., move at first improvement (MAFI) and move at best improvement (MABI), are used in the algorithm. A new rule called Setup shifting is developed to conduct a more efficient neighborhood search for the MLLS problems. Computational studies are carried out on two sets of benchmark problems. The experimental results show that the VNS algorithm is capable of solving MLLS problems with good optimality and high computational efficiency as well, outperforming most of the existing algorithms in comparison.     

Variable neighborhood search for the inventory routing and scheduling problem in a supply chain

The inventory, routing and scheduling decisions are three major driving factors for supply chain performance. Since they are related to one another in a supply chain, they should be determined simultaneously to improve the decision quality. In the past, the inventory policy, vehicle routing and vehicle scheduling are determined sequentially and separately. Hence, the total cost (inventory, routing and vehicle costs) would increase. In this paper, an integrated model for the inventory routing and scheduling problem (IRSP) is proposed. Since searching for the optimal solution for this model is a non-polynomial (NP) problem, a metaheuristic, variable neighborhood search (VNS), is proposed. The proposed method was compared with other existing methods. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method is better than other methods in terms of average cost per day.     

An adaptive neighborhood search metaheuristic for the integrated railway rapid transit network design and line planning problem

We model and solve the Railway Rapid Transit Network Design and Line Planning (RRTNDLP) problem, which integrates the two first stages in the Railway Planning Process. The model incorporates costs relative to the network construction, fleet acquisition, train operation, rolling stock and personnel management. This implies decisions on line frequencies and train capacities since some costs depend on line operation. We assume the existence of an alternative transportation system (e.g. private car, bus, bicycle) competing with the railway system for each origin–destination pair. Passengers choose their transportation mode according to the best travel times. Since the problem is computationally intractable for realistic size instances, we develop an Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS) algorithm, which can simultaneously handle the network design and line planning problems considering also rolling stock and personnel planning aspects. The ALNS performance is compared with state-of-the-art commercial solvers on a small-size artificial instance. In a second stream of experiments, the ALNS is used to design a railway rapid transit network in the city of Seville.     

Variable neighborhood search for the workload balancing problem in service enterprises

In this paper, we consider a telecommunication service company facing seasonal demand and time-varying capacity. A uniform lead-time, which is the maximum time span a customer has to wait before receiving the required service, is quoted to all customers. We present a quadratic integer programming model for the problem of scheduling jobs to meet the promised lead-time with the objective of balancing the workload across time. Since in practice solving such a problem to optimality can be very difficult, two variants of a variable neighborhood search approach are proposed. Extensive computational tests show that our heuristics are able to provide high quality solutions efficiently.     

Combining the principles of variable neighborhood decomposition search and the fix&optimize heuristic to solve multi-level lot-sizing and scheduling problems

In this paper a new heuristic is proposed to solve general multi-level lot-sizing and scheduling problems. The idea is to cross-fertilize the principles of the meta-heuristic Variable Neighborhood Decomposition Search (VNDS) with those of the MIP-based Fix&Optimize heuristic. This combination will make it possible to solve the kind of problems that typically arise in the consumer goods industry due to sequence-dependent setups and shifting bottlenecks. In order to demonstrate the strength of this procedure, a GLSP variant for multiple production stages is chosen as a representative. With the help of artificial and real-world instances, the quality of the solution as well as the computational performance of the new procedure is tested and compared to a standard MIP-solver.     

求解冷链物流时间依赖型车辆路径问题的混合自适应大邻域搜索算法

针对单一机制的自适应大邻域搜索算法存在早熟收敛、易陷入局部最优的问题,提出了一种混合自适应大邻域搜索算法来求解冷链物流时间依赖型车辆路径问题（TDVRP）。首先,根据连续型行驶时间依赖函数来刻画时变车速,采用综合油耗模型来评估实时燃油消耗量,并建立了以总成本最小化为目标的路径优化模型;然后,根据问题的NP-hard性质和时间依赖特性设计了多种破坏和修复解的大邻域搜索算子,并将破坏-修复大邻域搜索算子融入到人工蜂群（ABC）算法之中,以提高算法的全局搜索能力。仿真实验结果表明,与自适应可变邻域搜索精英蚁群（AVNS_EAC）算法、自适应大邻域搜索精英蚁群（ALNS_EAC）算法、自适应大邻域搜索精英遗传（ALNS_EG）算法和自适应大邻域搜索模拟退火（ALNS_SA）算法相比,所提出的自适应大邻域搜索人工蜂群（ALNS_ABC）算法在多组测试数据上的最优适应度值分别平均提高了46.3%、5.3%、36.8%和6%。可见所提算法计算性能更高、稳定性更强,能够为冷链物流企业兼顾经济效益和环境效益提供更为合理的决策依据。     

A variable neighborhood search algorithm for the optimization of a dial-a-ride problem in a large city

On-demand transportation is becoming a new necessary service for modern (public and private) mobility and logistics providers. Large cities are demanding more and more share transportation services with flexible routes, resulting from user dynamic demands. In this study a new algorithm is proposed for solving the problem of computing the best routes that a public transportation company could offer to satisfy a number of customer requests. In this problem, known in the literature as the dial-a-ride problem, a number of passengers has to be transported between pickup and delivery locations trying to minimize the routing costs while respecting a set of pre-specified constraints (maximum pickup time, maximum ride duration and maximum load per vehicle). For optimizing this problem, a new variable neighborhood search has been developed and tested on a set of 24 different scenarios of a large-scale dial-a-ride problem in the city of San Francisco. The results have been compared against two state-of-the-art algorithms of the literature and validated by means of statistical procedures proving that the new algorithm has obtained the best overall results.