On the use of reference points for the biobjective Inventory Routing Problem

TL;DR

This paper explores a true multi-objective approach to the inventory routing problem using reference points, enabling the identification of Pareto-optimal solutions through a specialized optimization system.

Contribution

It introduces a reference point based optimization method for the biobjective inventory routing problem, addressing its complexity and providing a way to find true Pareto-optimal solutions.

Findings

Successful implementation of the method on benchmark data

Identification of Pareto-optimal solutions using local search metaheuristics

Analysis of numerical results demonstrating effectiveness

Abstract

The article presents a study on the biobjective inventory routing problem. Contrary to most previous research, the problem is treated as a true multi-objective optimization problem, with the goal of identifying Pareto-optimal solutions. Due to the hardness of the problem at hand, a reference point based optimization approach is presented and implemented into an optimization and decision support system, which allows for the computation of a true subset of the optimal outcomes. Experimental investigation involving local search metaheuristics are conducted on benchmark data, and numerical results are reported and analyzed.