An Attribute Based Similarity Function for VRP Decision Support
Journal Title: Decision Making in Manufacturing and Services - Year 2012, Vol 6, Issue 1
Abstract
When solving problems in the real world using optimization tools, the model solved by the tools is often only an approximation of the underlying, real, problem. In these circumstances, a decision maker (DM) should consider a diverse set of good solutions, not just an optimal solution as produced using the model. On the other hand, the same DM will only be interested in seeing a few of the alternative solutions, and not the plethora of solutions often produced by modern search techniques. There is thus a need to distinguish between good solutions using the attributes of solutions. We develop a distance function of the type proposed in the Psychology literature by Tversky (1977) for the class of VRP problems. We base our difference on the underlying structure of solutions. A DM is often interested in focusing on a set of solutions fulfilling certain conditions that are of specific importance that day, or in general, like avoiding a certain road due to construction that day. This distance measure can also be used to generate solutions containing these specific classes of attributes, as the normal search process might not supply enough of these interesting solutions. We illustrate the use of the functions in a Multiobjective Decision Support System (DSS) setting, where the DM might want to see the presence (or absence) of certain attributes, and show the importance of identifying solutions not on the Pareto front. Our distance measure can use any attributes of the solutions, not just those defined in the optimization model.
Authors and Affiliations
Arne Løkketangen, Jorge Oyola, Johan Oppen, David Woodruff
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP167023
- DOI 10.7494/dmms.2012.6.2.65
- Views 93
- Downloads 0
Risks and implications for decision making processes associated with existing design codes or their non-existence
Buckling phenomenon is a perplexing and unresolved issue in many safety critical structures, and it has been heavily regulated. The paper highlights the risks to decision making processes due to growing tendencies of eli...
Elevator Trip Distribution for Inconsistent Passenger Input-Output Data
Accurate traffic data are the basis for group control of elevators and its performance evaluation by trace driven simulation. The present practice estimates a time series of inter-floor passenger traffic based on commonl...
On the Non-Symmetric Nash and Kalai-Smorodinsky Bargaining Solutions
Recently in some negotiation application areas the usual assumption that the negotiators are symmetric has been relaxed. In particular, weights have been introduced to the Nash Bargaining Solution to reflect the differe...
Allocating Pooled Inventory According to Contributions and Entitlements
Inventory pooling, whether by centralization of stock or by mutual assistance, is known to be beneficial when demands are uncertain. But when the retailers are independent, the question is how to divide the benefits of p...
Developing and Deploying Electronics Assembly Line Optimization Tools: A Motorola Case Study
The assignment of workloads to production equipment is one category of planning decision for an electronics assembly factory. In practice, line balancing requires not only selecting machines with sufficient placement acc...