Centralized versus market-based approaches to mobile task allocation problem: State-of-the-art

Centralized approach has been adopted for finding solutions to resource allocation problems (RAPs) in many real-life applications. On the other hand, market-based approach has been proposed as an alternative to solve the problem due to recent advancement in ICT technologies. In spite of the existence of some efforts to review the pros and cons of each approach in RAPs, the studies cannot be directly applied to specific problem domains like mobile task allocation problem which is characterised with high level of uncertainty on the availability of resources (workers). This paper aims to review existing studies on task allocation problems(TAPs) focusing on those two approaches and their comparison and identify major issues that need to be resolved for comparing the two approaches in mobile task allocation problems. Mobile Task Allocation Problem (MTAP) is defined and its problematic structures are explained in relation with task allocation to mobile workers. Solutions produced by each approach to some applications and variations of MTAP are also discussed and compared. Finally, some future research directions are identified in order to compare both approaches in function of uncertainty emerging from the mobile nature of the MTAP

An auction for collaborative vehicle routing: Models and algorithms

Increasing competition and expectations from customers pressures carriers to further improve efficiency. Forming collaborations is essential for carriers to reach their targeted efficiency levels. In this study, we investigate an auction mechanism to facilitate collaboration amongst carriers while maintaining autonomy for the individual carriers. Multiple auction implementations are evaluated. As the underlying decision problem (which is a traditional vehicle routing problem) is known to be NP-hard, this auction mechanism has an important inherent complexity. Therefore, we use fast and efficient algorithms for the vehicle routing problem to ensure that the auction can be used in operational decision making. Numerical results are presented, indicating that the auction achieves a savings potential better than the thus far reported approaches in the literature. Managerial insights are discussed, particularly related to the properties of the auction and value of the information

The bid construction problem for truckload transportation services procurement in combinatorial auctions : new formulations and solution methods

De nos jours, l'évolution du commerce électronique ainsi que des niveaux de la consommation requièrent des acteurs de la chaine logistique et en particulier les transporteurs de gérer efficacement leurs opérations. Afin de rester concurrentiels et maximiser leurs profits, ils doivent optimiser leurs opérations de transport. Dans cette thèse de doctorat, nous nous focalisons sur les enchères combinatoires en tant que mécanisme de négociation pour les marchés d'approvisionnement des services de transport routier par camions permettant à un expéditeur d'externaliser ses opérations de transport et aux transporteurs d'acquérir des contrats de transport. Les mises combinatoires permettent à un transporteur participant à l'enchère d'exprimer ses intérêts pour une combinaison de contrats mis à l'enchère dans une même mise. Si la mise gagne, tous les contrats qui la forment seront alloués au transporteur au tarif exigé. Les défis majeurs pour le transporteur sont de déterminer les contrats de transport sur lesquels miser, les regrouper dans plusieurs mises combinatoires, s'il y a lieu, et décider des prix à soumettre pour chaque mise générée. Ces défis décisionnels définissent le problème de construction de mises combinatoires (BCP pour Bid Construction Problem). Chaque transporteur doit résoudre le BCP tout en respectant ses engagements préexistants et ses capacités de transport et en tenant compte des offres des compétiteurs, ce qui rend le problème difficile à résoudre. Dans la pratique, la majorité des transporteurs se basent sur leur connaissance du marché et leur historique pour fixer leurs prix des mises. Dans la littérature, la majorité des travaux sur le BCP considèrent des modèles déterministes où les paramètres sont connus et se limitent à un contexte de flotte homogène. En plus, nous notons qu'un seul travail à considérer une variante stochastique du BCP. Dans cette thèse de doctorat, nous visons à faire avancer les connaissances dans ce domaine en introduisant de nouvelles formulations et méthodes de résolution pour le BCP Le premier chapitre de cette thèse introduit une nouvelle variante du BCP avec une flotte hétérogène. En partant d'une comparaison des similitudes et des différences entre le BCP et les problèmes classiques de de tournées de véhicules, nous proposons une nouvelle formulation basée sur les arcs avec de nouvelles contraintes de bris de symétrie pour accélérer la résolution. Ensuite, nous proposons une approche heuristique et une autre exacte pour résoudre ce problème. L'heuristique développée est une recherche adaptative à grands voisinages (ALNS pour Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search) et se base sur le principe de destruction puis réparation de la solution à l'aide d'opérateurs conçus spécifiquement pour le BCP traité. La méthode exacte utilise la meilleure solution heuristique pour résoudre notre modèle mathématique avec le solveur CPLEX. Les résultats obtenus montrent la pertinence de nos méthodes en termes de qualités des solutions et des temps de calculs et ce pour des instances de grande taille. Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous nous attaquons à un cas particulier du BCP où le transporteur n'a pas d'engagements existants et vise à déterminer un ensemble de contrats mis à l'enchère profitables à miser dessus. Cette problématique correspond à un problème de tournées de véhicules avec profits (TOP pour Team Orienteering Problem). Nous proposons pour le TOP une heuristique ALNS hybride avec de nouveaux opérateurs ainsi que de nouvelles fonctionnalités tenant compte de la nature du problème. Ensuite, nous comparons les performances de notre méthode avec toutes les méthodes déjà publiées dans la littérature traitant du TOP. Les résultats montrent que notre méthode surpasse généralement toutes les approches existantes en termes de qualité des solutions et/ou temps de calculs quand elle est testée sur toutes les instances de la littérature. Notre méthode améliore la solution d'une instance de grande taille, ce qui surligne sa performance. Dans le troisième chapitre, nous nous focalisons sur l'incertitude associée aux prix de cessions des contrats mis à l'enchère et sur les offres des transporteurs concurrents. Il n'existe qu'un seul article qui traite de l'incertitude dans le BCP cependant il ne permet pas de générer des mises multiples. Ainsi, nous proposons une nouvelle formulation pour le BCP avec des prix stochastiques permettant de générer des mises combinatoires et disjointes. Nous présentons deux méthodes pour résoudre ce problème. La première méthode est hybride et à deux étapes. Dans un premier temps, elle résout un problème de sélection pour déterminer un ensemble de contrats profitables. Dans un second temps, elle résout simultanément un problème de sélection de contrats et de détermination de prix des mises (CSPP pour Contracts Selection and Pricing Problem) en ne considérant que les contrats sélectionnés dans la première étape. Notre méthode exacte résout, avec l'algorithme de branch-and-cut, le CSPP sans présélectionner des contrats. Les résultats expérimentaux et de simulations que nous rapportons soulignent la performance de nos deux méthodes et évaluent l'impact de certains paramètres sur le profit réel du transporteur. Dans le quatrième chapitre, nous nous focalisons sur l'incertitude liée au succès des mises et à la non-matérialisation des contrats. Généralement, le transporteur souhaite avoir la garantie que si certaines des mises ne sont pas gagnées ou un contrat ne se matérialise pas, il n'encourra pas de perte en servant le sous-ensemble de contrats gagnés. Dans cette recherche, nous adressons le BCP avec prix stochastiques et développons une méthode exacte qui garantit un profit non négatif pour le transporteur peu importe le résultat des enchères. Nos simulations des solutions optimales démontrent, qu'en moyenne, notre approche permet au transporteur d'augmenter son profit en plus de garantir qu'il reste non-négatif peu importe les mises gagnées ou la matérialisation des contrats suivant l'enchère.Nowadays, the evolution of e-commerce and consumption levels require supply chain actors, in particular carriers, to efficiently manage their operations. In order to remain competitive and to maximize their profits, they must optimize their transport operations. In this doctoral thesis, we focus on Combinatorial Auctions (CA) as a negotiation mechanism for truckload (TL) transportation services procurement allowing a shipper to outsource its transportation operations and for a carrier to serve new transportation contracts. Combinatorial bids offer a carrier the possibility to express his valuation for a combination of contracts simultaneously. If the bid is successful, all the contracts forming it will be allocated to the carrier at the submitted price. The major challenges for a carrier are to select the transportation contracts to bid on, formulate combinatorial bids and associated prices. These decision-making challenges define the Bid Construction Problem (BCP). Each carrier must solve a BCP while respecting its pre-existing commitments and transportation capacity and considering unknown competitors' offers, which makes the problem difficult to solve. In practice, the majority of carriers rely on their historical data and market knowledge to set their prices. In the literature, the majority of works on the BCP propose deterministic models with known parameters and are limited to the problem with a homogeneous fleet. In addition, we found a single work addressing a stochastic BCP. In this thesis, we aim to advance knowledge in this field by introducing new formulations and solution methods for the BCP. The first chapter of this thesis introduces the BCP with a heterogeneous fleet. Starting from a comparison between the BCP and classical Vehicle Routing Problems (VRPs), we propose a new arc-based formulation with new symmetry-breaking constraints for the BCP. Next, we propose exact and heuristic approaches to solve this problem. Our Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS) heuristic is based on a destroy-repair principle using operators designed for this problem. Our exact method starts from the heuristic solution and solves our mathematical model with CPLEX. The results we obtained revealed the relevance of our methods in terms of solutions quality and computational times for large instances with up to 500 contracts and 50 vehicles. In the second chapter, we tackle a particular case of the BCP where the carrier has no pre-existing commitments and aims to select a set of profitable auctioned contracts to bid on. This problem corresponds to a Team Orienteering Problem (TOP). We propose a hybrid ALNS heuristic for the TOP with new operators as well as new features taking into account the nature of the problem. Then, we compare the performance of our algorithm against the best solutions from the literature. The results show that our method generally outperforms all the existing ones in terms of solutions quality and/or computational times on benchmark instances. Our method improves one large instance solution, which highlights its performance. In the third chapter, we focus on the uncertainty associated with the auctioned contracts clearing prices and competing carriers offers. Only one article dealing with uncertainty in the BCP existed but it does not allow to generate multiple bids. Thus, we propose a new formulation for the BCP with stochastic prices allowing to generate non-overlapping combinatorial bids. We present two methods to solve this problem. The first one is a two-step hybrid heuristic. First, it solves a Contracts Selection Problem to determine a set of profitable contracts to bid on. Secondly, it simultaneously solves a Contracts Selection and Pricing Problem (CSPP) by considering only the set of auctioned contracts selected in the first stage. Our exact method solves a CSPP by branch-and-cut without pre-selecting contracts. The experimental and simulation results underline the performance of our two methods and evaluate the impact of certain parameters on the carrier's real profit. In the fourth chapter, we focus on the uncertainty associated with bids success and contracts non-materialization. Generally, the carrier seeks to be assured that if some of the submitted bids are not won or a contract does not materialize, it will not incur a loss by serving the remaining contracts. In this research, we address the BCP with stochastic prices and develop an exact method that ensures a non-negative profit for the carrier regardless of the auction outcomes and contracts materialization. Our simulations of the optimal solutions show that, on average, our approach increases the carrier's profit in addition to guaranteeing its non-negativity regardless of the bids won or the contracts materialization

Heuristic methods for the periodic Shipper Lane Selection Problem in transportation auctions

none3siopenTriki, Chefi; Mirmohammadsadeghi, Seyedmehdi; Piya, SujanTriki, Chefi; Mirmohammadsadeghi, Seyedmehdi; Piya, Suja

Truckload Shipment Planning and Procurement

This dissertation presents three issues encountered by a shipper in the context of truckload transportation. In all of the studies, we utilize optimization techniques to model and solve the problems. Each study is inspired from the real world and much of the data used in the experiments is real data or representative of real data. The first topic is about the freight consolidation in truckload transportation. We integrate it with a purchase incentive program to increase truckload utilization and maximize profit. The second topic is about supporting decision making collaboration among departments of a manufacturer. It is a bi-objective optimization model. The third topic is about procurement in an adverse market. We study a modification of the existing procurement process to consider the market stochastic into marking decisions. In all three studies, our target is to develop effectively methodologies to seek optimal answers within a reasonable amount of time

Revisiting the Evolution and Application of Assignment Problem: A Brief Overview

The assignment problem (AP) is incredibly challenging that can model many real-life problems. This paper provides a limited review of the recent developments that have appeared in the literature, meaning of assignment problem as well as solving techniques and will provide a review on   a lot of research studies on different types of assignment problem taking place in present day real life situation in order to capture the variations in different types of assignment techniques. Keywords: Assignment problem, Quadratic Assignment, Vehicle Routing, Exact Algorithm, Bound, Heuristic etc

Opportunity costs calculation in agent-based vehicle routing and scheduling

In this paper we consider a real-time, dynamic pickup and delivery problem with timewindows where orders should be assigned to one of a set of competing transportation companies. Our approach decomposes the problem into a multi-agent structure where vehicle agents are responsible for the routing and scheduling decisions and the assignment of orders to vehicles is done by using a second-price auction. Therefore the system performance will be heavily dependent on the pricing strategy of the vehicle agents. We propose a pricing strategy for vehicle agents based on dynamic programming where not only the direct cost of a job insertion is taken into account, but also its impact on future opportunities. We also propose a waiting strategy based on the same opportunity valuation. Simulation is used to evaluate the benefit of pricing opportunities compared to simple pricing strategies in different market settings. Numerical results show that the proposed approach provides high quality solutions, in terms of profits, capacity utilization and delivery reliability

Integrating production scheduling and transportation procurement through combinatorial auctions

This study uses the winner determination problem (WDP) to integrate auction transportation procurement with decisions related to production scheduling. The basic problem arises when a manufacturer has to clear a combinatorial auction to decide whether to cover transportation needs by using the in-house fleet or to procure transportation through auction. Thus, the manufacturer should include an additional decision level by integrating the WDP with production scheduling to gain efficiency and achieve savings in the logistics system. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time production and transportation procurement problems are being solved simultaneously in an integrated manner. The study proposes a mathematical formulation and develops two heuristic approaches for solving the integrated problem. Extensive computational experiments and sensitivity analyses are reported to validate the model, assess the performance of the heuristics, and show the effect of integration on total cost. © 2020 The Authors. Networks published by Wiley Periodicals LLC