Optimizing the Distribution of Dairy Products by Heuristic Algorithms and Geographic Information System: A Case Study of FARS PEGAH DAIRY COMPANY

The problem of the distribution of dairy products, which is classi ed as a combinatorial optimization problem, cannot be solved in polynomial time. In this paper, an algorithm based on Ant Colony Hybrid meta-heuristic system and Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to nd a near-optimal solution to this problem. Using the for- mer method, the nearest neighbor heuristic algorithm was used to nd an initial solution, and then, Campbell insertion algorithm having O(n3) complexity was applied in order to nd a feasible solution. Furthermore, cross exchange local search algorithm was utilized to reduce the time of nding a near-optimal solution. Using the latter method, with regard to geographic features of the problem, the distribution network was opti- mized by GIS. Besides, we attempted to optimize the distribution network of dairy products using multi-objective mathematical model.