Matheuristics for the Design of a Multi-Step, Multi-Product Supply Chain with Multimodal Transport

Abstract

Supply-chain network design is a complex task because there are many decisions involved, and presently, global networks involve many actors and variables, for example, in the automotive, pharmaceutical, and electronics industries. This research addresses a supply-chain network design problem with four levels: suppliers, factories, warehouses, and customers. The problem considered decides on the number, locations, and capacities of factories and warehouses and the transportation between levels in the supply chain. The problem is modeled as a mixed-integer linear program. The main contribution of this work is the proposal of two matheuristic algorithms to solve the problem. Matheuristics are algorithms that combine exact methods and heuristics, attracting interest in the literature because of their fast execution and high-quality solutions. The matheuristics proposed to select the warehouses and their capacities following heuristic rules. Once the warehouses and their capacities are fixed, the algorithms solve reduced models using commercial optimization software. Medium and large instances were generated based on a procedure described in the literature. A comparison is made between the algorithms and the results obtained, solving the model with a time limit. The algorithms proposed are successful in obtaining better results for the largest instances in shorter execution times.