Industrial Innovations

Industrial Innovations

Service type-based capacitated p-hub location-allocation (case study: I.R.I. Post company)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
School of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
In this paper, a special type of hub location-allocation problem is introduced for a real case study. Considering that the hub facilities usually have a limited capacity, the problem is investigated in the capacitated mode. Also, since services are usually provided to customers in different ways, and studying this helps to solve real-world problems, the problem model is designed based on the type of service. To our knowledge, this issue has not been investigated in previous studies. This issue has been investigated based on a case study in the postal hub system of the National Post Company of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This problem can be generalized in various other applications such as online stores, airports and telecommunication systems, and modeling based on the conditions in these systems and providing a suitable solution method can be used as an applied research. In this study, a mathematical model is proposed according to the characteristics of this system. Also, the exact solution method using the CPLEX solver has been used to solve the presented model. Based on the calculations and comparison with the existing conditions, the mathematical model presented in dealing with the design issues of the hub network of J.A. Post Company. It is effective and leads to cost reduction compared to the current system. Based on the results obtained from the implementation of the mathematical model, the provinces of Tehran, Tabriz, Mashhad, Ahvaz, Shiraz, Isfahan and Kerman were determined as postal hub centers. This is while in the current situation, the provinces of Tehran, Tabriz, Mashhad, Ahvaz, Shiraz, Isfahan and Hamadan are used as land postal hubs.
Keywords

[1]    J. Campbell, A. Ernst, and M. Krishnamoorthy, “Hub location problems.,” 2002.
[2]    Hakimi SL, “Optimum locations of switching centers and the absolute centers and medians of a graph,” Operations research. 1964;12: 450-9
[3]    Goldman AJ, Optimal locations for centers in a network, Transportation Science. 1969;3:352-60.
[4]    Toh RS, Higgins RG, The impact of hub and spoke network centralization and route monopoly on domestic airline profitability, Transportation journal. 1985:16-27.
[5]    O’kelly ME, The location of interacting hub facilities, Transportation Science. 1986;20:92-106.
[6]    O'Kelly ME. Activity levels at hub facilities in interacting networks. Geographical Analysis. 1986;18:343-56
[7]    O'Kelly ME. A quadratic integer program for the location of interacting hub facilities. European journal of operational research. 1987;32:393-404.
[8]    O'Kelly ME. Hub facility location with fixed costs. Papers in Regional Science. 1992;71:293-306
[9]    Campbell JF. Integer programming formulations of discrete hub location problems. European journal of operational research. 1994;72:387-405.
[10] Campbell JF. Hub location and the p-hub median problem. Operations research. 1996;44:923-35.
[11] Klincewicz JG. Heuristics for the p-hub location problem. European journal of operational research. 1991;53:25-37.
[12] Klincewicz JG. Avoiding local optima in thep-hub location problem using tabu search and grasp. Annals of Operations research. 1992;40:283-302.
[13] Aykin T. Lagrangian relaxation based approaches to capacitated hub-and-spoke network design problem. European journal of operational research. 1994;79:501-23.
[14] Aykin T. Networking policies for hub-and-spoke systems with application to the air transportation system. Transportation Science. 1995;29:201-21.
[15] Klincewicz JG. Hub location in backbone/tributary network design: a review. Location Science. 1998;6:307- 35.
[16] Bryan DL, O'Kelly ME. Hub‐and‐spoke networks in air transportation: an analytical review. Journal of regional science. 1999;39:275-95.
[17] Alumur S, Kara BY. Network hub location problems: The state of the art. European journal of operational research. 2008;190:1-21.
[18] Campbell JF, O'Kelly ME. Twenty-five years of hub location research. Transportation Science. 2012;46:153- 69.
[19] Farahani RZ, Hekmatfar M, Arabani AB, Nikbakhsh E. Hub location problems: A review of models, classification, solution techniques, and applications. Computers & industrial engineering. 2013;64:1096-109.
[20] Contreras I, O’Kelly M. Hub location problems. Location Science: Springer; 2019. p. 327-63.
[21] Contreras I. Hub network design. Network Design with Applications to Transportation and Logistics: Springer; 2021. p. 567-98
[22] Ernst AT, Krishnamoorthy M. Solution algorithms for the capacitated single allocation hub location problem. Annals of Operations research. 1999;86:141-59.
[23] Ishfaq R, Sox CR. Hub location–allocation in intermodal logistic networks. European journal of operational research. 2011;210:213-30.
[24] Ghodratnama A, Tavakkoli-Moghaddam R, Azaron A. Robust and fuzzy goal programming optimization approaches for a novel multi-objective hub location-allocation problem: A supply chain overview. Applied Soft Computing. 2015;37:255-76.
[25] Kahag MR, Niaki STA, Seifbarghy M, Zabihi S. Bi-objective optimization of multi-server intermodal hublocation-allocation problem in congested systems: modeling and solution. Journal of Industrial Engineering International. 2019;15:221-48.
[26] Ghodratnama A, Arbabi HR, Azaron A. Production planning in industrial townships modeled as hub location– allocation problems considering congestion in manufacturing plants. Computers & industrial engineering. 2019;129:479-501.
[27] Ghodratnama A, Arbabi HR, Azaron A. A bi˗ objective hub location-allocation model considering congestion. Operational Research. 2020;20:2427-66.
[28] Maharjan R, Hanaoka S. A credibility-based multi-objective temporary logistics hub location-allocation model for relief supply and distribution under uncertainty. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences. 2020;70:100727.
[29] Mokhtarzadeh M, Tavakkoli-Moghaddam R, Triki C, Rahimi Y. A hybrid of clustering and meta-heuristic algorithms to solve a p-mobile hub location–allocation problem with the depreciation cost of hub facilities. Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence. 2021;98:104121.
[30] Rabbani M, Mokhtarzadeh M, Manavizadeh N. A constraint programming approach and a hybrid of genetic and K-means algorithms to solve the p-hub location-allocation problems. International Journal of Management Science and Engineering Management. 2021;16:123-33.
[31] Karimi H, Setak M. Flow shipment scheduling in an incomplete hub location-routing network design problem. Computational and Applied Mathematics. 2018;37:819-51.
 

  • Receive Date 21 October 2022
  • Revise Date 16 January 2023
  • Accept Date 21 December 2022