A decomposition resolution approach for a production-inventory-distribution-routing problem

The aim of this study is to develop a solution to the problem of distribution of goods proposed by the Mathematical Competitive Game 2017-2018, jointly organized by the French Federation of Mathematical Games and Mathematical Modelling Company. Referred to as a production-inventory-distribution-routing problem (PIDRP), it is an NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem, which received the least attention in the literature. The research is quantitative model-based and combines exact and heuristic methods to propose a multiple-phase resolution approach to PIDRP. The results show that the use of clusters ensures practical operational aspects and provides good feasible solutions for the PIDRP in short and long-term planning. The theoretical contribution of this study liesin the PIDRP modeling strategy, and the practical contribution consists in solving a real-life PIDRP-based using optimization techniques.