Minimizing Total Earliness and Tardiness for Common Due Date Single-Machine Scheduling with an Unavailability Interval

This paper addresses the problem of scheduling n independent jobs on a single machine with a fixed unavailability interval, where the aim is to minimize the total earliness and tardiness (TET) about a common due date. Two exact methods are proposed for solving the problem: mixed integer linear programming formulations and a dynamic programming based method. These methods are coded and tested intensively on a large data set and the results are analytically compared. Computational experiments show that the dynamic programming method is efficient in obtaining the optimal solutions and no problems due to memory requirement

Heuristic solutions to multi-depot location-routing problems

This paper presents a method for solving the multi-depot location-routing problem (MDLRP). Since several unrealistic assumptions, such as homogeneous #eet type and unlimited number of available vehicles, are typically made concerning this problem, a mathematical formulation is given in which these assumptions are relaxed. Since the inherent complexity of the LRP problem makes it impossible to solve the problem on a larger scale, the original problem is divided into two sub-problems, i.e., the location-allocation problem, and the general vehicle routing problem, respectively. Each sub-problem is then solved in a sequential and iterative manner by the simulated annealing algorithm embedded in the general framework for the problemsolving procedure. Test problems from the literature and newly created problems are used to test the proposed method. The results indicate that this method performs well in terms of the solution quality and run time consumed. In addition, the setting of parameters throughout the solution procedure for obtaining quick and favorable solutions is also suggested. Scope and purpose In many logistic environments managers must make decisions such as location for distribution centers (DC), allocation of customers to each service area, and transportation plans connecting customers. The location-routing problems (LRPs) are, hence, de"ned to "nd the optimal number and locations of the DCs