A New Robust Mathematical Model for the Multi-product Capacitated Single Allocation Hub Location Problem with Maximum Covering Radius

Abstract

This paper presents a new robust mathematical model for the multi-product capacitated single allocation hub location problem with maximum covering radius. The objective function of the proposed model minimizes the cost of establishing hubs, the expected cost of preparing hubs for handling products, shipping and transportation in all scenarios, and the cost variations over different scenarios. In the proposed model, a single product of a single node cannot be allocated to more than one hub, but different products of one node can be allocated to different hubs. Also, a product can be allocated to a hub only if equipment related to that product is installed on that hub. Considering the NP-Hard complexity of this problem, a GA-based meta-heuristic algorithm is developed to solve the large scale variants of the problem. To evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, its results are compared with the results of exact method and simulated annealing algorithm. These results show the good performance of the proposed algorithm.

Keywords

• multi-product
• hub location
• single allocation
• robust optimization
• genetic algorithm
• simulated annealing algorithm