Combined Simulated Annealing Algorithm for Logistics Network Design Problem

The essence of the logistics network design problems is to determine the location of the facility and the allocation of the demands of customers, which under the condition of the minimum of the cost. Based on the standard simulated annealing algorithm, an all-purpose combined simulated annealing algorithm(CSA) is presented for the logistics network design problem. The CSA is divided into two layers as inner layer and outer layer to solve the problem. The outer algorithm is optimization for the decision of the facility location, and the inner algorithm is optimization for the allocation of customer's demand under the given decision of the outer algorithm. Applications of numerical examples with different scale denoted the algorithm is more effective than standard simulated annealing and other algorithms proposed to solve logistics network design problem.