We propose an algorithm for solving bilevel problems with mixed-integer convex-quadratic upper level as well as convex-quadratic and continuous lower level. The method is based on a classic branch-and-bound procedure, where branching is performed on the integer constraints and on the complementarity constraints resulting from the KKT reformulation of the lower-level problem. However, instead of … Read more
Motivated by food distribution operations for non-profit organizations, we study a variant of the stochastic routing-allocation problem under demand uncertainty, in which one decides the assignment of trucks for demand nodes, the sequence of demand nodes to visit (i.e., truck route), and the allocation of food supply to each demand node. We propose three stochastic … Read more
We consider a problem from the context of energy-efficient underground railway timetabling, in which an existing timetable draft is improved by slightly changing departure and running times. In practice, synchronization between accelerating and braking trains to utilize regenerative braking plays a major role for the energy-efficiency of a timetable. Since deviations from a planned timetable … Read more
The problem of an expanding chain (it already has some facilities) in a given area is considered. It may locate a new facility, or vary (up or down) the quality of its existing facilities, or close some of them, or a combination of all those possibilities, whatever it is the best to maximize its profit, … Read more
An essential component in modern solvers for mixed-integer (linear) programs (MIPs) is the separation of additional inequalities (cutting planes) to tighten the linear programming relaxation. Various algorithmic decisions are necessary when integrating cutting plane methods into a branch-and-bound (B&B) solver as there is always the trade-off between the efficiency of the cuts and their costs, … Read more
We present an exact generic method for solving the pricing problem in a column generation approach, which we call branch-and-bound column search. It searches the space of all feasible columns via a branch-and-bound tree search and returns all columns with a reduced-cost value below a certainthreshold. The approach is based on an idea from Krumke … Read more
Pre-runtime scheduling of large-scale electronic systems, as those in modern aircraft, can be computationally challenging. In this paper, we study a distributed integrated modular avionic system of practical relevance where the scheduling includes to assign communication messages to time slots and to sequence tasks on modules. For this problem, the challenge is the huge number … Read more
The Resource Constrained Project Scheduling Problem with a flexible Project Structure (RCPSP-PS) is a generalization of the Resource Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (RCPSP). The objective of the RCPSP-PS is to find a minimal makespan schedule subject to precedence and resource constraints, while only having to execute a subset of all activities. We present a general … Read more
We consider the capacitated facility location problem with (partial) single-sourcing (CFLP-SS). A natural mixed integer formulation for the problem involves 0-1 variables x_j indicating whether faclility j is used or not and y_{ij} variables indicating the fraction of the demand of client i that is satisfied from facility j. When the x variables are fixed, … Read more
Covering problems are well-studied in the domain of Operations Research, and, more specifically, in Location Science. When the location space is a network, the most frequent assumption is to consider the candidate facility locations, the points to be covered, or both, to be discrete sets. In this work, we study the set-covering location problem when … Read more