| Article ID: | iaor20114022 |
| Volume: | 8 |
| Issue: | 4 |
| Start Page Number: | 392 |
| End Page Number: | 402 |
| Publication Date: | Apr 2011 |
| Journal: | International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management |
| Authors: | Sivakumar Appa Iyer, Kumar P N Ram |
| Keywords: | networks: scheduling, combinatorial optimization, programming: integer, heuristics, vehicle routing & scheduling |
We introduce the combinatorial optimisation problem of routing freight on a capacitated hub‐and‐spoke network known as the Capacitated Hub Routing Problem (CHRP). The hubs are limited in capacity for channelling flows between the nodes served by the system. A Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) model is proposed for the problem. With extensive computational results and design of experiments, it is proved that the hub capacity is the dominant factor that affects the total cost of transportation as well as the computational time required to solve a problem instance to optimality. A simple but effective heuristic is proposed for problem instances with unknown optimal solutions. The results obtained are encouraging.