A novel approximation method to obtain initial basic feasible solution of transportation problem

The transportation problem is one of the important problems in the field of optimization. It is related to finding the minimum cost transportation plan for moving to a certain number of demand points from a certain number of sources. Various methods for solving this problem have been included in the literature. These methods are usually developed for an initial solution or optimal solution. In this study, a novel method to find the initial solution to the transportation problem is proposed. This new method called Karagul-Sahin Approximation Method was compared with six initial solution methods in the literature using twenty-four test problems. Compared to other methods, the proposed method has obtained the best initial solution to 17 of these problems with remarkable calculation times. In conclusion, the solutions obtained by the proposed method are as good as the solutions obtained with Vogel's approach and as fast as the Northwest Corner Method. © 2019 The Author

(HFGA)

Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) is a problem in which the shortest possible route enabling a salesman to return to the starting point after visiting all the cities exactly once is determined. Travelling Salesman Problem is the basis for many problems ranging from vehicle routing to printed circuit boards assembly. This problem has been attracting great attention from researchers in the field of optimization; nevertheless it is difficult to solve TSP, especially for large-scale data sets. This paper presents a hybrid solution method based on Fluid Genetic Algorithm, Nearest Neighbor and 2-Opt methods for the solution of TSP. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated with the solution values of the Nearest Neighbor, Genetic Algorithm, Tabu Search, Ant Colony Optimization and the Tree Physiology Optimization algorithms in the literature. The solution results show the superiority of the proposed method in terms of solution time and quality.C1 [Sahin, Yusuf] Mehmet Akif Ersoy Univ, Iktisadi & Idari Bilimler Fak, Isletme Bolumu, Burdur, Turkey.[Karagul, Kenan] Pamukkale Univ, Honaz Meslek Yuksekokulu, Lojistik Bolumu, Denizli, Turkey

Routing Problems

In vehicle routing problems, the initial solutions of the routes are important for improving the quality and solution time of the algorithm. For a better route construction algorithm, the obtained initial solutions must be basic, fast, and flexible with reasonable accuracy. In this study, initial solutions are introduced to improve the final solution of the Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem based on a method from the literature. Using a different formula for addressing the gravitational forces, a new method is introduced and compared with the previous physics inspired algorithm. By using the initial solutions of the proposed method and using them as the initial routes of the Record-to-Record and Simulated Annealing algorithms, it is seen that better results are obtained when compared with various algorithms from the literature. Also, in order to fairly compare the algorithms executed on different machines, a new comparison scale for the solution quality of vehicle routing problems is proposed that depends on the solution time and the deviation from the best known solution. The obtained initial solutions are then input to Record-to-Record and Simulated Annealing algorithms to obtain final solutions. Various test instances and CVRP solutions from the literature are used for comparison. The comparisons with the proposed method have shown promising results

Routing Problems

In vehicle routing problems, the initial solutions of the routes are important for improving the quality and solution time of the algorithm. For a better route construction algorithm, the obtained initial solutions must be basic, fast, and flexible with reasonable accuracy. In this study, initial solutions are introduced to improve the final solution of the Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem based on a method from the literature. Using a different formula for addressing the gravitational forces, a new method is introduced and compared with the previous physics inspired algorithm. By using the initial solutions of the proposed method and using them as the initial routes of the Record-to-Record and Simulated Annealing algorithms, it is seen that better results are obtained when compared with various algorithms from the literature. Also, in order to fairly compare the algorithms executed on different machines, a new comparison scale for the solution quality of vehicle routing problems is proposed that depends on the solution time and the deviation from the best known solution. The obtained initial solutions are then input to Record-to-Record and Simulated Annealing algorithms to obtain final solutions. Various test instances and CVRP solutions from the literature are used for comparison. The comparisons with the proposed method have shown promising results

Determination of the Sensory Attributes of Dried Milk Powders and Dairy Ingredients

A standardized descriptive language for skim milk powder and dried dairy ingredients was developed. The lexicon was initially identified from a large sample set of dried dairy ingredients (138). A highly trained descriptive panel (n = 14) refined terms and identified references. Dried dairy ingredients (36) were then evaluated using the developed language. Twenty-one descriptors were identified for dried dairy ingredients. Seventeen flavors and tastes were identified in skim milk powders (27) with nine flavors/tastes observed in all skim milk powders. Dried dairy ingredients were differentiated using the language (