Meta-Heuristic Algorithms for a Multi-Product Dynamic Lot-Sizing Problem with a Freight Container Cost

Lot sizing and shipment scheduling are two interrelated decisions made by a manufacturing plant and a third-party logistics distribution center. This paper analyzes a dynamic inbound ordering problem and shipment problem with a freight container cost, in which the order size of multiple products and single container type are simultaneously considered. In the problem, each ordered product placed in a period is immediately shipped by some freight containers in the period, and the total freight cost is proportional to the number of containers employed. It is assumed that the load size of each product is equal and backlogging is not allowed. The objective of this study is to simultaneously determine the lot-sizes and the shipment schedule that minimize the total costs, which consist of production cost, inventory holding cost, and freight cost. Because the problem is NP-hard, we propose three meta-heuristic algorithms: a simulated annealing algorithm, a genetic algorithm, and a new population-based evolutionary meta-heuristic called self-evolution algorithm. The performance of the meta-heuristic algorithms is compared with a local search heuristic proposed by the previous paper in terms of the average deviation from the optimal solution in small size problems and the average deviation from the best one among the replications of the meta-heuristic algorithms in large size problems.