Addressing a nonlinear fixed-charge transportation problem using a spanning tree-based genetic algorithm

In this paper, we consider the fixed-charge transportation problem (FCTP) in which a fixed cost, sometimes called a setup cost, is incurred if another related variable assumes a nonzero value. To tackle such an NP-hard problem, there are several genetic algorithms based on spanning tree and Prüfer number representation. Contrary to the findings in previous works, considering the genetic algorithm (GA) based on spanning tree, we present a pioneer method to design a chromosome that does not need a repairing procedure for feasibility, i.e. all the produced chromosomes are feasible. Also, we correct the procedure provided in previous works, which designs transportation tree with feasible chromosomes. We show the previous procedure does not produce any transportation tree in some situations. Besides, some new crossover and mutation operators are developed and used in this work. Due to the significant role of crossover and mutation operators on the algorithm’s quality, the operators and parameters need to be accurately calibrated to ensure the best performance. For this purpose, various problem sizes are generated at random and then a robust calibration is applied to the parameters using the Taguchi method. In addition, two problems with different sizes are solved to evaluate the performance of the presented algorithm and to compare that performance with LINGO and also with the solution presented in previous work.