Laboratories

Development of mathematical models and optimization algorithms for complex problems related to the management of logistics chains. In particular, the laboratory brings together competences in the field of combinatorial optimization, aimed at the construction of decision support tools for the management and routing of vehicle fleets, for the definition of optimal inventory management policies for warehouses, for the construction of high quality solutions of integrated logistics problems and for the design of logistics networks.

• Vehicle Routing Problems (VRPs): optimal planning of the visits to a set of customers to deliver or pickup freight with the aim of minimizing the total costs, under several side constraints. In this field, exact, heuristic and matheuristic algorithms are developed for standard and real case—based VRPs.


• Shift Scheduling Problems (SSPs): optimal assignment of workforce with different skills to logistics services with the aim of minimizing the total assignment cost, while satisfying operational and employment conditions. Heuristic and matheuristic algorithms are developed for real case SSPs


• Inventory Routing Problems (IRPs): optimal delivery policies to resupply a set of customers over a planning horizon, integrated and coordinated with the optimal operational scheduling of the deliveries performed by a fleet of vehicles. Exact, heuristic and matheuristic algorithms are developed for standard and real case—based IRPs


• Inventory Management Problems (IMPs): design of predictive models for the optimal management of the inventories of different classes of products on the basis of business analytics methods applied to historical series. Data mining based algorithms are developed.

Many scientific activities are developed and are ongoing with researchers working in the same areas defined before. A list of these collaborations is reported in the following:

• Gianpaolo Ghiani, Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Innovazione, Università del Salento


• Daniele Vigo, Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Energia Elettrica e dell'Informazione "Gugliemo Marconi", Alma Mater Università di Bologna


• Luca Bertazzi, Dipartimento di Economia e Management, Università di Brescia


• Roberto Roberti, Department of Supply Chain Analytics at the School of Business and Economics, VU Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS


• Gilbert Laporte, Canada Research Chair in Distribution Management, Department of Management Sciences, HEC Montréal, CANADA


• Jean-François Cordeau, Department of Logistics and Operations Management, HEC Montréal, CANADA


• Stefan Irnich, Gutenberg School of Management & Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, GERMANY


• Leandro C. Coelho, Canada Research Chair in Integrated Logistics, Operations and Decision Systems Department, Faculty of Administration Sciences, Université Laval (CANADA),


• Jeffrey Olhmann, Tippie College of Business, University of Iowa (USA)


• Ángel Corberán ed Enrique Benavent, Departament d’Estadística i Investigació Operativa, University of Valencia (SPAGNA)


• Prof. Wout Dullaert, Professor Logistics and Supply Chain at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS