Article ID: | iaor2009113 |
Country: | United Kingdom |
Volume: | 35 |
Issue: | 2 |
Start Page Number: | 427 |
End Page Number: | 435 |
Publication Date: | Feb 2008 |
Journal: | Computers and Operations Research |
Authors: | ReVelle Charles, Williams Justin C., Scholssberg Michelle |
Keywords: | heuristics, programming: integer |
The metaheuristic heuristic concentration (HC) is applied here to the solution of large instances of the maximal covering location problem with high percentage coverage. In these instances, exact methods may be too cumbersome for practical use, and heuristics can allow faster solution times with near-optimal results. We examined the performance of HC based on its ability to approach the optimal solutions to these problems and the run times of the algorithm compared to LP-IP runtimes. Exact solutions, generated by linear programming and branch and bound, provided a benchmark for comparison when the LP-IP problems could be run to completion.