A Particle Swarm Optimization Approach for Route Planning with Cross-Docking

In cross-docking operations, planners need to coordinate the inbound, docking and outbound logistics operations to ensure a smooth flow of goods across the supply chain. The operation management of cross docking is a crucial task with high complexity for the logistics systems. This paper attempts to address the Vehicle Routing Problems (VRPs) of distribution centers with multiple cross-docks for processing multiple products. In this paper, the mathematical model intends to minimize the total cost of operations subjected to a set of time and capacity constraints. Due to high complexity of model, a variant of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) with a Self-Learning approach is tailored to solve the VRP. Two test problems are generated and results are obtained.