Decomposing the Train Scheduling Problem into Integer Optimal Polytopes

This paper presents conditions for which the linear relaxation for the train scheduling problem is integer-optimal. These conditions are then used to identify how to partition a general problem’s feasible region into integer-optimal polytopes. Such an approach yields an extended formulation that contains far fewer binary variables. Our computational experiments show that this approach results … Read more

The Fuel Replenishment Problem:A Split-Delivery Multi-Compartment Vehicle Routing Problem with Multiple Trips

In this paper, we formally define and model the Fuel Replenishment Problem (FRP). The FRP is a multi-compartment, multi-trip, split-delivery VRP in which tanker trucks transport different types of petrol, separated over multiple vehicle compartments, from an oil depot to petrol stations. Large customer demands often necessitate multiple deliveries. Throughout a single working day, a … Read more

Mitigating Interdiction Risk with Fortification

We study a network fortification problem on a directed network that channels single-commodity resources to fulfill random demands delivered to a subset of the nodes. For given a realization of demands, the malicious interdictor would disrupt the network in a manner that would maximize the total demand shortfalls subject to the interdictor’s constraints. To mitigate … Read more

On the Stochastic Vehicle Routing Problem with time windows, correlated travel times, and time dependency

Most state-of-the-art algorithms for the Vehicle Routing Problem, such as Branch-and- Price algorithms or meta heuristics, rely on a fast feasibility test for a given route. We devise the fi rst approach to approximately check feasibility in the Stochastic Vehicle Routing Problem with time windows, where travel times are correlated and depend on the time of … Read more

A Solution Approach to Distributionally Robust Chance-Constrained Assignment Problems

We study assignment problem with chance constraints (CAP) and its distributionally robust counterpart (DR-CAP). We present a technique for estimating big-M in such a formulation that takes advantage of the ambiguity set. We consider a 0-1 bilinear knapsack set to develop valid inequalities for CAP and DR-CAP. This is generalized to the joint chance constraint … Read more

Oracle-Based Algorithms for Binary Two-Stage Robust Optimization

In this work we study binary two-stage robust optimization problems with objective uncertainty. The concept of two-stage robustness is tailored for problems under uncertainty which have two different kinds of decision variables, first-stage decisions which have to be made here-and-now and second-stage decisions which can be determined each time after an uncertain scenario occured. We … Read more

A Scenario-Based Approach for the Vehicle Routing Problem with Roaming Delivery Locations under Stochastic Travel Times

We address a stochastic variant of the Vehicle Routing Problem with Roaming Delivery Locations. In this model, direct-to-consumer deliveries can be made in the trunk of the customer’s car, while the vehicle is parked at a location along the customer’s itinerary. The stochasticity arises from the uncertainty in travel times and the problem is formulated … Read more

The Nutritious Supply Chain: Optimizing Humanitarian Food Aid

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, reaching around 90 million people with food assistance in 80 countries each year. To deal with the operational complexities inherent in its mandate, WFP has been developing tools to assist its decision makers with integrating supply chain decisions across departments and functional … Read more

Pricing for Delivery Time Flexibility

We study a variant of the multi-period vehicle routing problem, in which a service provider offers a discount to customer in exchange for delivery flexibility. We establish theoretical properties and empirical insights regarding the intricate and complex relation between the benefit from additional delivery flexibility, the discounts offered to customers to gain additional delivery flexibility, … Read more

Noisy Euclidean Distance Matrix Completion with a Single Missing Node

We present several solution techniques for the noisy single source localization problem, i.e.,~the Euclidean distance matrix completion problem with a single missing node to locate under noisy data. For the case that the sensor locations are fixed, we show that this problem is implicitly convex, and we provide a purification algorithm along with the SDP … Read more