A Polyhedral Study of the Static Probabilistic Lot-Sizing Problem

We study the polyhedral structure of the static probabilistic lot-sizing (SPLS) problem and propose facets that subsume existing inequalities for this problem. In addition, the proposed inequalities give the convex hull description of a related stochastic lot-sizing problem. We propose a new compact formulation that exploits the simple recourse structure, which can be applied to … Read more

A joint routing and speed optimization problem

Fuel cost contributes to a significant portion of operating cost in cargo transportation. Though classic routing models usually treat fuel cost as input data, fuel consumption heavily depends on the travel speed, which has led to the study of optimizing speeds over a given fixed route. In this paper, we propose a joint routing and … Read more

A decomposition approach for single allocation hub location problems with multiple capacity levels

In this paper we consider an extended version of the classical capacitated single allocation hub location problem in which the size of the hubs must be chosen from a finite and discrete set of allowable capacities. We develop a Lagrangian relaxation approach that exploits the problem structure and decomposes the problem into a set of … Read more

Numerical Solution of Linear-Quadratic Optimal Control Problems for Switching System

In this paper we obtained an approach to the optimal switching control problem with unknown switching points which it is described in reference [1, 2]. In reference [1], the authors studied the Decomposition of Linear-Quadratic Optimal Control Problems for Two-Steps Systems. In [1], the authors assumed the switching point t1 is xed in the interval … Read more

A Distributed Interior-Point KKT Solver for Multistage Stochastic Optimization

Multistage stochastic optimization leads to NLPs over scenario trees that become extremely large when many time stages or fine discretizations of the probability space are required. Interior-point methods are well suited for these problems if the arising huge, structured KKT systems can be solved efficiently, for instance, with a large scenario tree but a moderate … Read more

City Logistics: Challenges and Opportunities

Today, around 54% of the world’s population lives in urban areas. By 2050, this share is expected to go up significantly. As a result, city logistics, which focuses on the efficient and effective transportation of goods in urban areas while taking into account the negative effects on congestion, safety, and environment, is critical to ensuring … Read more

A Practical Price Optimization Approach for Omni-channel Retailing

Consumers are increasingly navigating across sales channels to make purchases. The common retail practice of pricing channels independently is unable to achieve the desired profitable coordination required between channels. As part of a joint partnership agreement with IBM Commerce, we engaged with three major retailers over two years, and developed advanced omni-channel pricing (OCP) solutions … Read more

Nash Equilibrium in a Pay-as-bid Electricity Market: Part 1 – Existence and Characterisation

We consider a model of a pay-as-bid electricity market based on a multi-leader-common-follower approach where the producers as leaders are at the upper level and the regulator as a common follower is at the lower level. We fully characterise Nash equilibria for this model by describing necessary and sufficient conditions for their existence as well … Read more

Nash Equilibrium in a Pay-as-bid Electricity Market: Part 2 – Best Response of a Producer

We consider a multi-leader-common-follower model of a pay-as-bid electricity market in which the producers provide the regulator with either linear or quadratic bids. We prove that for a given producer only linear bids can maximise his profit. Such linear bids are referred as the “best response” of the given producer. They are obtained assuming the … Read more

The stochastic vehicle routing problem, a literature review, part I: models

Building on the work of Gendreau, Laporte, and Seguin (1996), we review the past 20 years of scientific literature on stochastic vehicle routing problems (SVRP). The numerous variants of the problem that have been studied in the literature are described and categorized. Also a thorough review of solution methods applied to the SVRP is included … Read more