An Integrated Hub Location and Multi-depot Vehicle Routing Problem

This paper considers the integrated hub location and multi-depot vehicle routing problem. In this type of problem, we have to determine the location of hubs within a set of candidate locations, allocation of customers to each selected hub location and routes of the vehicles to meet the demands of number of customers in order to minimize the total system cost. To solve these problems simultaneously we apply a hierarchical structure, which hub location as the main problem and vehicle routing as a subordinate one. An integrated solution method based on ant colony optimization algorithm is developed which solves hub location problem and vehicle routing problem hierarchically. Its performance is examined through a comparative study.