A General Solution Approach for the Location Routing Problem

The advancement of industry 4.0 implies fast changing data and therefore requires flexibility. However, conventional solution methods for logistics optimization problems very often have to be adapted when objectives and restrictions are changing. In this paper, a new, generic solution approach called optimization network (ON) is developed for the Location Routing Problem (LRP). In an ON, existing solution methods are applied to the basic problems of the LRP. A meta solver optimizes the overall result of the network with a black box optimization. An orchestrator is responsible for the introduction of new optimization runs within the ON, which is possible due to the meta optimization and associated, new variegation strategies for the input data. The developed approach guarantees that changing external influences only involve an adaption of affected optimization nodes within the ON and not of the whole solution approach. Results are compared with an already existing generic solver and show the potential of the new solution method.