Applying an adaptive tabu search algorithm to optimize truck-dock assignment in the crossdock management system

Different from warehouse, crossdock is considered as a “JIT” technique in logistics and supply chain management (LSCM), which is usually a short period of time to store cargos. Since cargos transported to a crossdock by inbound trucks are immediately sorted out, repackaged, routed and loaded into outbound trucks and then delivered to customers within one day, one of the key issues to operate crossdock successfully is to develop an efficient truck-dock assignment module in the crossdock management system so that all the cargos can be delivered to customers on time. In this paper, we propose an adaptive tabu search (ATS) algorithm as an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to optimize the truck-dock assignment problem within a crossdock in a very efficient way, and computational experiments are conducted, showing that our approach dominates the CPLEX Solver in both effectiveness and efficiency.