A simulated annealing approach to a bi-criteria sequencing problem in a two-stage supply chain

In this paper, a multi-objective simulated annealing (MOSA) solution approach is proposed to a bi-criteria sequencing problem to coordinate required set-ups between two successive stages of a supply chain in a flow shop pattern. Each production batch has two distinct attributes and a set-up occurs in each stage when the corresponding attribute of the two successive batches are different. There are two objectives including: minimizing total set-ups and minimizing the maximum number of set-ups between the two stages that are both NP-hard problems. The MOSA approach starts with an initial set of locally non-dominated solutions generated by an initializing heuristic. The set is then iteratively updated through the annealing process in search for true Pareto-optimal frontier until a stopping criterion is met. Performance of the proposed MOSA was evaluated using true Pareto-optimal solutions of small problems found via total enumeration. It was also compared against a lower bound in large problems. Comparative experiments show that the MOSA is robust in finding true Pareto-optimal solutions in small problems. It was also shown that MOSA is very well-performing in large problems and that it outperforms an existing multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) in terms of quality of solutions.     

一种多目标不等面积设施布局问题的启发式算法

多目标不等面积设施布局问题（UA-FLP）是将一些不等面积设施放置在车间内进行布局,要求优化多个目标并满足一定的限制条件。以物料搬运成本最小和非物流关系强度最大来建立生产车间的多目标优化模型,并提出一种启发式算法进行求解。算法采用启发式布局更新策略更新构型,通过结合基于自适应步长梯度法的局部搜索机制和启发式设施变形策略来处理设施之间的干涉性约束。为了得到问题的Pareto最优解集,提出了基于Pareto优化的局部搜索和基于小生境技术的全局优化方法。通过两个典型算例对算法性能进行测试,实验结果表明,所提出的启发式算法是求解多目标UA-FLP的有效方法。     

The Pareto-optimal Solution Set of the Equilibrium Network Design Problem with Multiple Commensurate Objectives

The focus of this paper is to develop a solution framework to study equilibrium transportation network design problems with multiple objectives that are mutually commensurate. Objective parameterization, or scalarization, forms the core idea of this solution approach, by which a multi-objective problem can be equivalently addressed by tackling a series of single-objective problems. In particular, we develop a parameterization-based heuristic that resembles an iterative divide-and-conquer strategy to locate a Pareto-optimal solution in each divided range of commensurate parameters. Unlike its previous counterparts, the heuristic is capable of asymptotically exhausting the complete Pareto-optimal solution set and identifying parameter ranges that exclude any Pareto-optimal solution. Its algorithmic effectiveness and solution characteristics are justified by a set of numerical examples, from which we also gain additional insights about its solution generation behavior and the tradeoff between the computation cost and solution quality.     

A genetic algorithm approach for multi-objective optimization of supply chain networks

Supply chain network (SCN) design is to provide an optimal platform for efficient and effective supply chain management. It is an important and strategic operations management problem in supply chain management, and usually involves multiple and conflicting objectives such as cost, service level, resource utilization, etc. This paper proposes a new solution procedure based on genetic algorithms to find the set of Pareto-optimal solutions for multi-objective SCN design problem. To deal with multi-objective and enable the decision maker for evaluating a greater number of alternative solutions, two different weight approaches are implemented in the proposed solution procedure. An experimental study using actual data from a company, which is a producer of plastic products in Turkey, is carried out into two stages. While the effects of weight approaches on the performance of proposed solution procedure are investigated in the first stage, the proposed solution procedure and simulated annealing are compared according to quality of Pareto-optimal solutions in the second stage.     

AN EVALUATION OF THE TEMPORAL COHERENCE HEURISTIC IN PARTIAL-ORDER PLANNING

This paper presents an evaluation of a heuristic for partial-order planning, known as temporal coherence. The temporal coherence heuristic was proposed by Drummond and Currie as a method to improve the efficiency of partial-order planning without losing the ability to find a solution (i.e., completeness). It works by using a set of domain constraints to prune away plans that do not "make sense," or are temporally incoherent. Our analysis shows that, while intuitively appealing, temporal coherence can only be applied to a very specific implementation of a partial-order planner and still maintain completeness. Furthermore, the heuristic does not always improve planning efficiency; in some cases, its application can actually degrade the efficiency of planning dramatically. To understand when the heuristic will work well, we conducted complexity analysis and empirical tests. Our results show that temporal coherence works well when strong domain constraints exist that significantly reduce the search space, when the number of subgoals is small, when the plan size is not too large, and when it is inexpensive to check each domain constraint.     

Development of Pareto-based evolutionary model integrated with dynamic goal programming and successive linear objective reduction

This study investigates the coupling effects of objective-reduction and preference-ordering schemes on the search efficiency in the evolutionary process of multi-objective optimization. The difficulty in solving a many-objective problem increases with the number of conflicting objectives. Degenerated objective space can enhance the multi-directional search toward the multi-dimensional Pareto-optimal front by eliminating redundant objectives, but it is difficult to capture the true Pareto-relation among objectives in the non-optimal solution domain. Successive linear objective-reduction for the dimensionality-reduction and dynamic goal programming for preference-ordering are developed individually and combined with a multi-objective genetic algorithm in order to reflect the aspiration levels for the essential objectives adaptively during optimization. The performance of the proposed framework is demonstrated in redundant and non-redundant benchmark test problems. The preference-ordering approach induces the non-dominated solutions near the front despite enduring a small loss in diversity of the solutions. The induced solutions facilitate a degeneration of the Pareto-optimal front using successive linear objective-reduction, which updates the set of essential objectives by excluding non-conflicting objectives from the set of total objectives based on a principal component analysis. Salient issues related to real-world problems are discussed based on the results of an oil-field application.     

动态多目标优化:测试函数和算法比较

生活中存在大量的动态多目标优化问题,应用进化算法求解动态多目标优化问题受到越来越多的关注,而动态多目标测试函数对算法的评估起着重要的作用.在已有动态多目标测试函数的基础上,设计一组新的动态多目标测试函数.Pareto最优解集和Pareto前沿面的不同变化形式影响着动态多目标测试函数的难易程度,通过引入Pareto最优解集形状的变化,结合已有的Pareto最优解集移动模式,设计一组测试函数集.基于提出的测试函数集,对3个算法进行测试,仿真实验结果表明,所设计的函数给3个算法带来了挑战,并展现出算法的优劣.     

基于Pareto最优的PID多目标优化设计

现有的PID优化方法往往难以同时兼顾系统对时域和频域性能的要求,针对这一缺陷,提出了一种PID多目标优化方法：将动态性能指标作为优化目标,频域性能指标作为约束条件,采用基于Pareto最优的多目标优化算法对其求解。该算法采用新的拥挤距离计算方法,引入双重精英机制,进化效率高,得到的Pareto最优解集多样性好,决策者可根据当前工作需求从中选择最终的满意解。仿真结果证明了本文方法的有效性。     

冷轧机组批量作业计划模型与算法

针对编制冷轧机组作业计划受到钢卷宽度跳跃、入口厚度跳跃和出口厚度跳跃等多个工艺约束的问题, 把排产过程归纳为非对称双旅行商问题, 建立了冷轧机组生产作业计划的Pareto多目标模型. 提出了基于Pareto非支配集的自适应多目标蚁群算法, 利用自适应蚁群算法和Pareto非支配集思想, 综合考虑多个目标, 自适应地提供蚂蚁路径搜索参数, 并对得到的非支配解集对应路径更新信息素, 引导蚂蚁向最优解集方向搜索, 最终提供多个可行的批量作业计划, 根据生产要求从中选择合适的最优排产结果. 利用某冷轧薄板厂实际的生产数据进行仿真实验, 表明模型与算法在冷轧机组批量作业计划编制过程中具有可行性.     

基于正交设计的多目标演化算法

提出一种基于正交设计的多目标演化算法以求解多目标优化问题(MOPs)．它的特点在于：(1)用基于正交数组的均匀搜索代替经典EA的随机性搜索,既保证了解分布的均匀性,又保证了收敛的快速性;(2)用统计优化方法繁殖后代,不仅提高了解的精度,而且加快了收敛速度;(3)实验结果表明,对于双目标的MOPs,新算法在解集分布的均匀性、多样性与解精确性及算法收敛速度等方面均优于SPEA;(4)用于求解一个带约束多目标优化工程设计问题,它得到了最好的结果——Pareto最优解,在此之前,此问题的Pareto最优解是未知的．     

改进非支配排序进化算法在下料问题中的应用

针对一维下料问题,提出了减少废料、减少下料设置时间和减少可回收余料的三目标优化模型,用改进的非支配排序进化算法求出问题的Pareto最优解集,运用逼近理想解方法从解集中选出一个满意解作为下料方案,各优化目标的权重用CRITIC法算出。仿真实验证明了所提出的方法可以有效解决该类多目标下料问题。     

A multi-objective approach to facility layout problem by genetic search algorithm and Electre method

Classical approaches to layout design problem tend to maximise the efficiency of layout, measured by the handling cost related to the interdepartmental flow and to the distance among the departments. However, the actual problem involves several conflicting objectives hence requiring a multi-objective formulation. Multi-objective approaches, recently proposed, in most cases lead to the maximisation of a weighted sum of score functions. The poor practicability of such an approach is due to the difficulty of normalising these functions and of quantifying the weights. In this paper, this difficulty is overcome by approaching the problem in two subsequent steps: in the first step, the Pareto-optimal solutions are determined by employing a multi-objective constrained genetic algorithm and the subsequent selection of the optimal solution is carried out by means of the multi-criteria decision-making procedure Electre. This procedure allows the decision maker to express his preferences on the basis of the knowledge of candidate solution set. Quantitative (handling cost) and qualitative (adjacency and distance requests between departments) objectives are considered referring to a bay structure-based layout model, that allows to take into account also practical constraints such as the aspect ratio of departments. Results obtained confirm the effectiveness of the proposed procedure as a practicable support tool for layout designers.     

目标约束融合的约束多目标免疫算法及性能评价准则

免疫算法求解约束多目标优化问题时,如何设计抗体的亲和力,以及如何保持或提高种群的多样性为算法设计的关键.本文基于免疫系统的固有免疫和自适应免疫交互运行模式,提出目标约束融合的并行约束多目标免疫算法(parallel constrained multiobjective immune algorithm,PCMIOA).利用支配度和浓度设计抗体的亲和力,提出了目标约束融合的评价方法,增强了算法的收敛性.借助基因重组中DNA片段的转移机制,设计一种转移(transformation)算子,提高了种群的多样性.针对已有性能评价准则存在的不足给出一种改进的支配范围评价准则.数值实验选用12个约束二目标和4个非约束三目标测试函数验证PCMIOA的优化性能,并将其与3种著名的约束多目标算法和5种非约束多目标算法进行比较.结果表明:PCMIOA具有较强的优化性能.与其他算法相比,PCMIOA所获的Pareto最优前沿能较好的逼近真实Pareto最优前沿,且分布较均匀.     

Preference-based evolutionary multi-objective optimization in ship weather routing

In evolutionary multi-objective optimization (EMO) the aim is to find a set of Pareto-optimal solutions. Such approach may be applied to multiple real-life problems, including weather routing (WR) of ships. The route should be optimal in terms of passage time, fuel consumption and safety of crew and cargo while taking into account dynamically changing weather conditions. Additionally it must not violate any navigational constraints (neither static nor dynamic). Since the resulting non-dominated solutions might be numerous, some user support must be provided to enable the decision maker (DM) selecting a single “best” solution. Commonly, multi-criteria decision making methods (MCDM) are utilized to achieve this goal with DM’s preferences defined a posteriori. Another approach is to apply DM’s preferences into the very process of finding Pareto-optimal solutions, which is referred to as preference-based EMO. Here the Pareto-set is limited to those solutions, which are compliant with the pre-configured user preferences. The paper presents a new tradeoff-based EMO approach utilizing configurable weight intervals assigned to all objectives. The proposed method has been applied to ship WR problem and compared with a popular reference point method: r-dominance. Presented results prove applicability and competitiveness of the proposed method to solving multi-objective WR problem.     

An interactive evolutionary multi-objective optimization and decision making procedure

With the advent of efficient techniques for multi-objective evolutionary optimization (EMO), real-world search and optimization problems are being increasingly solved for multiple conflicting objectives. During the past decade of research and application, most emphasis has been spent on finding the complete Pareto-optimal set, although EMO researchers were always aware of the importance of procedures which would help choose one particular solution from the Pareto-optimal set for implementation. This is also one of the main issues on which the classical and EMO philosophies are divided on. In this paper, we address this long-standing issue and suggest an interactive EMO procedure which will involve a decision-maker in the evolutionary optimization process and help choose a single solution at the end. This study uses many year’s of research on EMO and would hopefully encourage both practitioners and researchers to pay more attention in viewing the multi-objective optimization as a aggregate task of optimization and decision-making.     

Multi-objective optimization of stochastic disassembly line balancing with station paralleling

One of the major activities performed in product recovery is disassembly. Disassembly line is the most suitable setting to disassemble a product. Therefore, designing and balancing efficient disassembly systems are important to optimize the product recovery process. In this study, we deal with multi-objective optimization of a stochastic disassembly line balancing problem (DLBP) with station paralleling and propose a new genetic algorithm (GA) for solving this multi-objective optimization problem. The line balance and design costs objectives are simultaneously optimized by using an AND/OR Graph (AOG) of the product. The proposed GA is designed to generate Pareto-optimal solutions considering two different fitness evaluation approaches, repair algorithms and a diversification strategy. It is tested on 96 test problems that were generated using the benchmark problem generation scheme for problems defined on AOG as developed in literature. In addition, to validate the performance of the algorithm, a goal programming approach and a heuristic approach are presented and their results are compared with those obtained by using GA. Computational results show that GA can be considered as an effective and efficient solution algorithm for solving stochastic DLBP with station paralleling in terms of the solution quality and CPU time.     

Optimal DG placement by multi-objective opposition based chaotic differential evolution for techno-economic analysis

Placement of optimally sized distributed generator (DG) units at optimal locations in the radial distribution networks can play a major role in improving the system performance. The maximum economic and technical benefits can be extracted by minimizing various objectives including yearly economic loss which includes installation, operation and maintenance cost, power loss as well as voltage deviation throughout the buses. The present problem is analysed considering these multi-objective frameworks and presents the best compromise solution or Pareto-optimal solution. Several equality and inequality constraints are also considered for the multi-objective optimization problem. In this paper, a novel multi-objective opposition based chaotic differential evolution (MOCDE) algorithm is proposed for solving the multi-objective problem in order to avoid premature convergence. Performance of population based meta-heuristic techniques largely depends on the proper selections of control parameters. It is reported that wrong parameters selection may lead to premature convergence and even stagnation. The proposed technique uses logistic mapping to generate chaotic sequence for control parameters. The proposed algorithm is implemented on IEEE-33 and IEEE-69 bus radial distribution systems for verifying its effectiveness. A comparative analysis with other modern multi-objective algorithms like NSGA-II, SPEA2 and MOPSO is also presented in this work. It is observed that the proposed algorithm can produce better results in terms of power loss and yearly economic loss minimization as well as improvement of voltage profile.     

A multi-objective TLBO algorithm for balancing two-sided assembly line with multiple constraints

Two-sided assembly line is often designed to produce large-sized high-volume products such as cars, trucks and engineering machinery. However, in real-life production process, besides the elementary constraints in the one-sided assembly line, additional constraints, such as zoning constraints, positional constraints and synchronous constraints, may occur in the two-sided assembly line. In this paper, mathematical formulation of balancing multi-objective two-sided assembly line with multiple constraints is established, and some practical objectives, including maximization of the line efficiency, minimization of the smoothness index and minimization of the total relevant costs per product unit (Tcost), have been considered. A novel multi-objective optimization algorithm based on improved teaching–learning-based optimization (ITLBO) algorithm is proposed to obtain the Pareto-optimal set. In the ITLBO algorithm, teacher and learner phases are modified for the discrete problem, and late acceptance hill-climbing is integrated into a novel self-learning phase. A novel merging method is proposed to construct a new population according to the ordering relation between the original and evolutionary population. The proposed algorithm is tested on the benchmark instances and a practical case. Experimental results, compared with the ones computed by other algorithm and in current literature, validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.     

Modeling and Pareto optimization of multi-objective order scheduling problems in production planning

This paper addresses a multi-objective order scheduling problem in production planning under a complicated production environment with the consideration of multiple plants, multiple production departments and multiple production processes. A Pareto optimization model, combining a NSGA-II-based optimization process with an effective production process simulator, is developed to handle this problem. In the NSGA-II-based optimization process, a novel chromosome representation and modified genetic operators are presented while a heuristic pruning and final selection decision-making process is developed to select the final order scheduling solution from a set of Pareto optimal solutions. The production process simulator is developed to simulate the production process in the complicated production environment. Experiments based on industrial data are conducted to validate the proposed optimization model. Results show that the proposed model can effectively solve the order scheduling problem by generating Pareto optimal solutions which are superior to industrial solutions.     

Simple heuristics-based selection of guides for multi-objective PSO with an application to electrical distribution system planning

In multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO), a proper selection of local guides significantly influences detection of non-dominated solutions in the objective/solution space and, hence, the convergence characteristics towards the Pareto-optimal set. This paper presents an algorithm based on simple heuristics for selection of local guides in MOPSO, named as HSG-MOPSO (Heuristics-based-Selection-of-Guides in MOPSO). In the HSG-MOPSO, the set of potential guides (in a PSO iteration) consists of the non-dominated solutions (which are normally stored in an elite archive) and some specifically chosen dominated solutions. Thus, there are two types of local guides in the HSG-MOPSO, i.e., non-dominated and dominated guides; they are named so as to signify whether the chosen guide is a non-dominated or a dominated solution. In any iteration, a guide, from the set of available guides, is suitably selected for each population member. Some specified proportion of the current population members follow their respective nearest non-dominated guides and the rest follow their respective nearest dominated guides. The proposed HSG-MOPSO is firstly evaluated on a number of multi-objective benchmark problems along with investigations on the controlling parameters of the guide selection algorithm. The performance of the proposed method is compared with those of two well-known guide selection methods for evolutionary multi-objective optimization, namely the Sigma method and the Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm-2 (SPEA2) implemented in PSO framework. Finally, the HSG-MOPSO is evaluated on a more involved real world problem, i.e., multi-objective planning of electrical distribution system. Simulation results are reported and analyzed to illustrate the viability of the proposed guide selection method for MOPSO.