Solving a Novel Multi-Objective Inventory Location Problem by means of a Local Search Algorithm

Carolina LAGOS¹, Jorge VEGA²,
Guillermo GUERRERO¹, Jose-Miguel RUBIO³
¹Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile
{carolina.lagos.c; guillermo.guerrero.c}@mail.pucv.cl
²Universidad de Antofagasta, Chile
jorge.vega@uantofa.cl
³Universidad de Playa Ancha, Chile
jose.rubio.l@upla.cl

Abstract: Problems in operations research are usually modelled as single objective ones even though there exist several goals that should be attained. Multiple reasons of why inherently multi-objective problems are modelled as single objective can be identified: better understanding of the problem features, simplification of the mathematical formulation of the problem, among others. However, summarising (usually conflicting) objectives into one objective function can be a sign of over-simplification in the problem modelling process. In this paper we extend a single objective inventory location problem formulation to a multi-objective one. We consider two conflicting objectives, namely, location cost and inventory cost. As a result, we obtain a complex multi-objective non-linear integer programming problem. Like its single objective formulation, this multi-objective problem cannot be solved by exact methods as the number of decision variables increases. Thus, a simple yet effective multi-objective local search algorithm is implemented in this paper.

Keywords: MO Local Search, MO Inventory Location, Combinatorial Optimisation.

>>Full text
CITE THIS PAPER AS: Carolina LAGOS, Jorge VEGA, Guillermo GUERRERO, Jose-Miguel RUBIO, Solving a Novel Multi-Objective Inventory Location Problem by means of a Local Search Algorithm, Studies in Informatics and Control, ISSN 1220-1766, vol. 25(2), pp. 189-194, 2016. https://doi.org/10.24846/v25i2y201606