The operational performance of an underground mine depends critically on how the production is scheduled. Increasingly advanced methods are used to create optimized long-term plans, and simultaneously the actual excavation is getting more and more automated. Therefore, the mapping of long-term goals into tasks by manual short-term scheduling is becoming a limiting segment in the optimization chain. In this thesis we study automating the short-term mine scheduling process, and thus contribute to an important missing piece in the pursuit of autonomous mining. First, we clarify the fleet scheduling problem and the surrounding context. Based on this knowledge, we propose a flow shop that models the mine scheduling problem. A flow shop is a general abstract process formulation that captures the key properties of a scheduling problem without going into specific details. We argue that several popular mining methods can be modeled as a rich variant of a k-stage hybrid flow shop, where the flow shop includes a mix of interruptible and uninterruptible tasks, after-lags, machine unavailabilities, and sharing of machines between stages. Then, we propose a Constraint Programming approach to schedule the underground production fleet. We formalize the problem and present a model that can be used to solve it. The model is implemented and evaluated on instances representative of medium-sized underground mines. After that, we introduce travel times of the mobile machines to the scheduling problem. This acknowledges that underground road networks can span several hundreds of kilometers. With this addition, the initially proposed Constraint Programming model struggles with scaling to larger instances. Therefore, we introduce a second model. The second model does not solve the interruptible scheduling problem directly; instead, it solves a related uninterruptible problem and transforms the solution back to the original time domain. This model is significantly faster, and can solve instances representative of large-sized mines even when including travel times. Lastly, we focus on finding high-quality schedules by introducing Large Neighborhood Search. To do this, we present a domain-specific neighborhood definition based on relaxing variables corresponding to certain work areas. Variants of this neighborhood are evaluated in Large Neighborhood Search and compared to using only restarts. All methods and models in this thesis are evaluated on instances generated from an operational underground mine. / Underjordsgruvans operativa prestanda är till stor del beroende av schemaläggningen av de mobila maskinerna. Allt mer avancerade metoder används för att skapa optimerade långtidsplaner samtidigt som produktionsaktiviteterna blir allt mer automatiserade. Att överföra långtidsmål till aktiviteter genom manuell schemaläggning blir därför ett begränsande segment i optimeringskedjan. I denna avhandling studerar vi automatisering av schemaläggning för underjordsgruvor och bidrar således med en viktig komponent i utvecklandet av autonom gruvdrift. Vi börjar med att klargöra schemaläggningsproblemet och dess omgivande kontext. Baserat på detta klargörande föreslår vi en abstraktion där problemet kan ses som en flow shop. En flow shop är en processmodell som fångar de viktigaste delarna av ett schemaläggningsproblem utan att hänsyn tas till allt för många detaljer. Vi visar att flera populära gruvbrytningsmetoder kan modelleras som en utökad variant av en k-stage hybrid flow shop. Denna utökade flow shop innehåller en mix av avbrytbara och icke avbrytbara aktiviteter, eftergångstid, indisponibla maskiner samt gemensamma maskinpooler för vissa steg. Sedan föreslår vi ett koncept för att lösa schemaläggningsproblemet med hjälp av villkorsprogrammering. Vi formaliserar problemet och presenterar en modell som kan användas för att lösa det. Modellen implementeras och utvärderas på probleminstanser representativa för mellanstora underjordsgruvor. Efter det introducerar vi restider för de mobila maskinerna i schemaläggningsproblemet. Detta grundar sig i att vägnätet i underjordsgruvor kan sträcka sig upp till flera hundra kilometer. Med det tillägget får den initiala villkorsprogrammeringsmodellen svårt att lösa större instanser. För att möta det problemet så introducerar vi en ny modell. Den nya modellen löser inte det avbrytbara problemet direkt utan börjar med att lösa ett relaterat, icke avbrytbart, problem för att sedan transformera lösningen tillbaka till den ursprungliga tidsdomänen. Denna modell är betydligt snabbare och kan lösa probleminstanser representativa för stora underjordsgruvor även när restider inkluderas. Avslutningsvis fokuserar vi på att hitta scheman av hög kvalitet genom att optimera med Large Neighborhood Search. För att åstadkomma detta presenterar vi ett domänspecifikt grannskap baserat på att relaxera variabler som rör aktiviteter inom vissa produktionsområden. Flera varianter av detta grannskap utvärderas och jämförs med att enbart använda omstarter. Alla metoder och modeller i den här avhandlingen är utvärderade på genererade instanser från en operativ underjordsgruva. / <p>QC 20181026</p>

Especialmente nas últimas quatro décadas, muitos estudos se voltaram às variáveis determinantes para a implementação efetiva de sistemas flexíveis de manufatura, tais como seu design, sequenciamento e controle. Neste ínterim, o manejo apropriado do conjunto de ferramentas necessárias para a fabricação de um respectivo lote de produtos foi destacado como fator crucial no desempenho do sistema de produção como um todo. Neste trabalho, abordamos a otimização do número de inserções e remoções de ferramentas no magazine de uma ou mais máquinas numericamente controladas, admitindo-se que uma parcela significativa do tempo de produção é dispensada com estas trocas de ferramentas. De forma mais precisa, a minimização do número de trocas de ferramentas consiste em determinar a ordem de processamento de um conjunto de tarefas, bem como o carregamento ótimo do(s) compartimento(s) de ferramentas da(s) máquina(s), a fim de que o número de trocas seja minimizado. Como demostrado na literatura, mesmo o caso restrito à existência de apenas uma máquina de manufatura (MTSP, do inglês Minimization of Tool Switches Problem) é um problema NP-difícil, o que pode justificar o fato observado de que a maioria dos métodos de solução existentes o abordam de maneira heurística. Consequentemente, concluímos que a extensão ao contexto de múltiplas máquinas é também um problema NP-difícil, intrinsecamente complicado de se resolver. Nosso objetivo consiste em estudar formas eficientes de otimizar o número de trocas de ferramentas em ambientes equipados com máquinas flexíveis de manufatura. Para tanto, abordamos o problema básico, MTSP, e duas de suas variantes, em níveis crescentes de abrangência, que consideram o sequenciamento de tarefas em um conjunto de: (i) máquinas paralelas e idênticas (IPMTC, do inglês Identical Parallel Machines problem with Tooling Constraints); e (ii) máquinas paralelas e idênticas inseridas em um ambiente do tipo job shop (JSSPTC, do inglês Job Shop Scheduling Problem with Tooling Constraints). Classificamos as principais contribuições desta tese com respeito a três aspectos. Primeiramente, empurramos as fronteiras da literatura do MTSP propondo formulações matemáticas para os problemas IPMTC e JSSPTC. Desenvolvemos, também, algoritmos baseados em diferentes técnicas de resolução, como redução de domínio, Path relinking, Adaptive large neighborhood search e a elaboração de regras de despacho. Por último, com o intuito de bem avaliar a eficiência e o alcance de nossos métodos, propomos três novos conjuntos de instâncias teste. Acreditamos, assim, que este trabalho contribui positivamente com pesquisas futuras em um cenário abrangente dentro da minimização das trocas de ferramentas em um sistema flexível de manufatura. / Several studies, especially in the last four decades, have focused on decisive elements for the effective implementation of flexible manufacturing systems, such as their design, scheduling and control. In the meantime, the appropriate management of the set of tools needed to manufacture a certain lot of products has been highlighted as a crucial factor in the performance of the production system as a whole. This work deals with the optimization of the number of insertions and removals from the magazine of one or more numerical controlled machines, assuming that a significant part of the production time is wasted with such tool switches. More precisely, the minimization of tool switches problem (MTSP) consists on determining the processing order of a set of jobs, as well as the optimal loading of the magazine(s) of the machine(s), so that the total number of switches is minimized. As formally demonstrated in the literature, the MTSP is a NP-hard problem even when considering the existence of only one manufacturing machine, which could justify the fact that most of the solution methods tackles it heuristically. We thus conclude that its extension to the case of multiples machines is also NP-hard and, therefore, a problem intrinsically difficult to solve. Our goal consists in studying efficient ways to optimize the number of tool switches in environments equipped with flexible manufacturing machines. For that, we address the basic problem, MTSP, and two MTSP variants, in increasing levels of reach, that consider the job sequencing in a set of: (i) identical parallel machines (Identical Parallel Machines problem with Tooling Constraints, IPMTC); and (ii) identical parallel machines inserted in a job shop environment (Job Shop Scheduling Problem with Tooling Constraints, JSSPTC). The main contributions of this thesis are classified according three aspects. First, we pushed the frontier of the MTSP literature by proposing mathematical formulations for IPMTC and JSSPTC. We also developed algorithms based on different solution techniques, such as domain reduction, Path Relinking, Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search and dispatching rules. Finally, to fully evaluate the effectiveness and limits of our methods, three new sets of benchmark instances were generated. We believe that this work contributes positively to the future of research in a broad scenario inside the minimization of tool switches in flexible manufacturing systems.

Especialmente nas últimas quatro décadas, muitos estudos se voltaram às variáveis determinantes para a implementação efetiva de sistemas flexíveis de manufatura, tais como seu design, sequenciamento e controle. Neste ínterim, o manejo apropriado do conjunto de ferramentas necessárias para a fabricação de um respectivo lote de produtos foi destacado como fator crucial no desempenho do sistema de produção como um todo. Neste trabalho, abordamos a otimização do número de inserções e remoções de ferramentas no magazine de uma ou mais máquinas numericamente controladas, admitindo-se que uma parcela significativa do tempo de produção é dispensada com estas trocas de ferramentas. De forma mais precisa, a minimização do número de trocas de ferramentas consiste em determinar a ordem de processamento de um conjunto de tarefas, bem como o carregamento ótimo do(s) compartimento(s) de ferramentas da(s) máquina(s), a fim de que o número de trocas seja minimizado. Como demostrado na literatura, mesmo o caso restrito à existência de apenas uma máquina de manufatura (MTSP, do inglês Minimization of Tool Switches Problem) é um problema NP-difícil, o que pode justificar o fato observado de que a maioria dos métodos de solução existentes o abordam de maneira heurística. Consequentemente, concluímos que a extensão ao contexto de múltiplas máquinas é também um problema NP-difícil, intrinsecamente complicado de se resolver. Nosso objetivo consiste em estudar formas eficientes de otimizar o número de trocas de ferramentas em ambientes equipados com máquinas flexíveis de manufatura. Para tanto, abordamos o problema básico, MTSP, e duas de suas variantes, em níveis crescentes de abrangência, que consideram o sequenciamento de tarefas em um conjunto de: (i) máquinas paralelas e idênticas (IPMTC, do inglês Identical Parallel Machines problem with Tooling Constraints); e (ii) máquinas paralelas e idênticas inseridas em um ambiente do tipo job shop (JSSPTC, do inglês Job Shop Scheduling Problem with Tooling Constraints). Classificamos as principais contribuições desta tese com respeito a três aspectos. Primeiramente, empurramos as fronteiras da literatura do MTSP propondo formulações matemáticas para os problemas IPMTC e JSSPTC. Desenvolvemos, também, algoritmos baseados em diferentes técnicas de resolução, como redução de domínio, Path relinking, Adaptive large neighborhood search e a elaboração de regras de despacho. Por último, com o intuito de bem avaliar a eficiência e o alcance de nossos métodos, propomos três novos conjuntos de instâncias teste. Acreditamos, assim, que este trabalho contribui positivamente com pesquisas futuras em um cenário abrangente dentro da minimização das trocas de ferramentas em um sistema flexível de manufatura. / Several studies, especially in the last four decades, have focused on decisive elements for the effective implementation of flexible manufacturing systems, such as their design, scheduling and control. In the meantime, the appropriate management of the set of tools needed to manufacture a certain lot of products has been highlighted as a crucial factor in the performance of the production system as a whole. This work deals with the optimization of the number of insertions and removals from the magazine of one or more numerical controlled machines, assuming that a significant part of the production time is wasted with such tool switches. More precisely, the minimization of tool switches problem (MTSP) consists on determining the processing order of a set of jobs, as well as the optimal loading of the magazine(s) of the machine(s), so that the total number of switches is minimized. As formally demonstrated in the literature, the MTSP is a NP-hard problem even when considering the existence of only one manufacturing machine, which could justify the fact that most of the solution methods tackles it heuristically. We thus conclude that its extension to the case of multiples machines is also NP-hard and, therefore, a problem intrinsically difficult to solve. Our goal consists in studying efficient ways to optimize the number of tool switches in environments equipped with flexible manufacturing machines. For that, we address the basic problem, MTSP, and two MTSP variants, in increasing levels of reach, that consider the job sequencing in a set of: (i) identical parallel machines (Identical Parallel Machines problem with Tooling Constraints, IPMTC); and (ii) identical parallel machines inserted in a job shop environment (Job Shop Scheduling Problem with Tooling Constraints, JSSPTC). The main contributions of this thesis are classified according three aspects. First, we pushed the frontier of the MTSP literature by proposing mathematical formulations for IPMTC and JSSPTC. We also developed algorithms based on different solution techniques, such as domain reduction, Path Relinking, Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search and dispatching rules. Finally, to fully evaluate the effectiveness and limits of our methods, three new sets of benchmark instances were generated. We believe that this work contributes positively to the future of research in a broad scenario inside the minimization of tool switches in flexible manufacturing systems.

Diese Dissertation verknüpft eisenbahnbetriebswissenschaftliche Grundlagen mit Methoden aus den Disziplinen Unternehmensforschung (Operations Research) und Maschinelles Lernen. Gegenstand ist die auf den mittelfristigen Zeithorizont bezogene Ressourcenplanung von Knoten des Schienengüterverkehrs, die sogenannte taktische Planung. Diese spielt eine wesentliche Rolle für eine wirtschaftliche und qualitativ hochwertige Betriebsdurchführung. Knoten des Schienengüterverkehrs stellen neuralgische Punkte in der Transportkette von Waren auf der Schiene dar. Sie dienen der Durchführung einer Vielzahl unterschiedlicher betrieblicher Prozesse zur Sicherstellung eines definierten Outputs an Zügen in Abhängigkeit eines jeweils gegebenen Inputs. Die Bereitstellung eines zu den Betriebsanforderungen passenden Ressourcengerüsts ist Teil der taktischen Planung und hat wesentlichen Einfluss auf die Qualität der Prozesse in den Knoten, im Speziellen, sowie auf die vor- und nachgelagerte Transportdurchführung im Allgemeinen. Die Bemessung des notwendigen Personals, der Betriebsmittel und der Infrastruktur für einen Betriebstag, die sogenannte Ressourcendimensionierung, ist in der Praxis geprägt durch einen erheblichen manuellen Aufwand sowie eine große Abhängigkeit von der Datenqualität. Vor diesem Hintergrund und zur Überwindung dieser Nachteile schlägt diese Dissertation ein neues Verfahren zur Ressourcendimensionierung vor. Exemplarisch wird der Fokus auf die großen Knoten des Einzelwagenverkehrs gelegt, die sogenannten Rangierbahnhöfe. In diesen werden Eingangszüge zerlegt, Güterwagen entsprechend ihrer Ausgangsrichtung sortiert und gesammelt, sowie neue Ausgangszüge gebildet und bereitgestellt. Nach dem Stand der Technik werden für die Ressourcendimensionierung mehrere Monate bis wenige Wochen vor der Betriebsdurchführung Rangierarbeitspläne erstellt. Diese umfassen einen detaillierten Arbeitsfolgenplan inklusive Terminierung von Prozessen sowie deren Ressourcenbelegung. Die Rangierarbeitspläne bilden die Grundlage für die Ressourcenanforderung. Aufgrund sich ändernder Nebenbedingungen vor dem Betriebstag und dem stochastischen Charakter der Betriebsprozesse sowohl im Netz als auch in den Knoten können die in der taktischen Planung erstellten Rangierarbeitspläne nur begrenzt für die Durchführung verwendet werden. Als Beispiele sollen das Einlegen von Sonderzügen, Unregelmäßigkeiten bei den Transporten und Witterungsauswirkungen angeführt werden. Der betriebene Planungsaufwand begründet sich in den komplexen Zusammenhängen zwischen den Betriebsprozessen und der größtenteils fehlenden EDV-Unterstützung, was eine Ermittlung der Ressourcendimensionierung bisher erschwert. Die Folge ist eine Diskrepanz zwischen der Datenqualität als Eingangsgröße für die Planung und der Präzision des Rangierarbeitsplans als Ausgangsgröße, was als Konsequenz eine Scheingenauigkeit der Planung und unter Umständen eine Über- oder Unterdimensionierung der Ressourcen mit sich bringt. Das zeigt, dass die Planung verkürzt werden muss und neue Hilfsmittel erforderlich sind. Motiviert durch diese Diskrepanz und den neuen Möglichkeiten, die die Methoden aus den Bereichen des Operations Research und des Maschinellen Lernens bieten, stellt diese Dissertation ein neues Planungsverfahren Parabola bereit. Parabola ermittelt mit geringerem Planungsaufwand und hoher Qualität relevante Kenngrößen für die Ressourcendimensionierung in Knoten des Schienengüterverkehrs. Dies beschleunigt den taktischen Planungsprozess, reduziert Scheingenauigkeiten bei der Ressourcendimensionierung vor der Betriebsdurchführung und orientiert sich daran, wann welche Entscheidungen zuverlässig und genau zu treffen sind. Folglich wird die Detailtiefe der Planung mit der Zuverlässigkeit der Daten in Einklang gebracht. Das in der Dissertation bereitgestellte Planungsverfahren Parabola analysiert eine ausreichend große Anzahl errechneter Rangierarbeitspläne und / oder historischer Betriebsdaten. Das dabei trainierte Regressionsmodell wird anschließend zur Bestimmung des Ressourcengerüsts genutzt. Die Kalibrierung der Regressionsmodelle erfordert hinreichend viele Rangierarbeitspläne. Für deren Erzeugung wird exemplarisch am Beispiel von Rangierbahnhöfen in dieser Dissertation ein ganzheitliches mathematisches lineares Programm entwickelt, das erstmalig sämtliche für die taktische Planung eines Rangierbahnhofs relevanten Entscheidungsprobleme vom Zugeingang bis zum Zugausgang abbildet. Dieses beinhaltet die Definition der Verknüpfung zwischen Eingangs- und Ausgangszügen, sogenannter Wagenübergänge, sowie die Terminierung sämtlicher Betriebsprozesse mit ihrer Zuweisung zu örtlichen Mitarbeitern, Betriebsmitteln und Infrastruktur. Die bestehenden mathematischen Modelle in der bisherigen Literatur beschränken sich lediglich auf Teile dieses Problems. Es folgt die systematische Erzeugung von Problemstellungen, sogenannten Instanzen, zur Generierung eines repräsentativen Testpools. Die Instanzen dieses NP-schweren Problems sind für generische, exakte Lösungsverfahren in akzeptabler Zeit nicht zuverlässig lösbar. Daher wird eine maßgeschneiderte Metaheuristik, konkret ein Verfahren der Klasse Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS), entwickelt. Diese bewegt sich durch den Lösungsraum, indem schrittweise mittels mehrerer miteinander konkurrierender Subheuristiken eine vorher gefundene Lösung erst zerstört und anschließend wieder repariert wird. Durch unterschiedliche Charakteristika der Subheuristiken und einer statistischen Auswertung ihres jeweiligen Beitrags zum Lösungsfortschritt, gelingt es der ALNS, sich an das Stadium der Lösungssuche und an die jeweilige Problemstruktur anzupassen. Die in dieser Dissertation entwickelte ALNS erzeugt für realistische Instanzen eines Betriebstages Lösungen in hoher Qualität binnen weniger Minuten Rechenzeit. Basierend auf den erzeugten Rangierarbeitsplänen wurden für die Entwicklung des Planungsverfahrens insgesamt fünf Regressionstechniken getestet, die die Ausgangsgrößen der Pläne – Bedarf an Lokomotiven, Personal und Infrastruktur – prognostizieren. Die vielversprechendsten Ergebnisse werden durch die Methoden Tree Boosting sowie Random Forest erzielt, die in über 90 % der Fälle den Ressourcenbedarf für Personale und Lokomotiven exakt und für Infrastruktur mit einer Toleranz von einem Gleis je Gleisgruppe prognostizieren. Damit ist dieses Regressionsmodell nach ausreichender Kalibrierung entsprechend örtlicher Randbedingungen geeignet, komplexere Planungsverfahren zu ersetzen. Die Regressionsmodelle ermöglichen die Abstrahierung von Mengengerüsten und Leistungsverhalten von Knoten des Schienengüterverkehrs. Daher ist beispielsweise ein konkreter Fahrplan von und zu den Knoten nicht mehr notwendige Voraussetzung für die taktische Planung in Rangierbahnhöfen. Da das Regressionsverfahren aus vielen Rangierarbeitsplänen lernt, verringert sich die Abhängigkeit von einzelnen Instanzen. Durch die Kenntnis von vielen anderen Plänen können robustere Ressourcengerüste prognostiziert werden. Neben dem in dieser Dissertation ausgearbeiteten Anwendungsfall in der taktischen Planung in Knoten des Schienengüterverkehrs, eröffnet das vorgeschlagene neue Planungsverfahren Parabola eine Vielzahl an weiteren Einsatzfeldern. Die Interpretation des trainierten Regressionsmodells erlaubt das tiefgründige Verständnis des Verhaltens von Knoten des Schienengüterverkehrs. Dies ermöglicht ein besseres Verstehen der Engpässe in diesen Knoten sowie die Identifikation relevanter Treiber der Ressourcendimensionierung. Weiter können diese Modelle bei der Erstellung von netzweiten Leistungsanforderungen Berücksichtigung finden. Mit der in dieser Dissertation erfolgten Bereitstellung von Parabola wird durch Nutzung neuartiger Methoden aus dem Operations Research und Maschinellen Lernen das Instrumentarium der eisenbahnbetriebswissenschaftlichen Verfahren und Modelle sinnvoll erweitert. / This dissertation combines the knowledge of railway operations management with methods from operations research and machine learning. It focuses on rail freight facilities, especially their resource planning at a tactical level. The resource planning plays a crucial role for economical operations at high quality. The rail freight facilities represent neuralgic points in the transport chain of goods by rail. Their task is to carry out a multitude of different operational processes to ensure a defined output of trains, depending on a given input. Providing resource requirements appropriate to the amount of work has a significant impact on the quality of the processes in the facilities in particular and on the up- and downstream transport performance in general. The correct dimensioning of resource requirements, which include the necessary staff, locomotives, and infrastructure for an operating day, is characterized by a considerable manual effort and a large dependency on the data accuracy. Against this background and to overcome these drawbacks, this dissertation proposes a new method for resource requirements. The focus is on the large facilities of single wagonload traffic, the so-called classification yards, in which inbound trains are disassembled, railcars are classified according to their outbound direction, and new outbound trains are formed. Nowadays, shunting work plans are created several months to a few weeks before operations. These operating plans comprise a detailed work sequence plan, including process scheduling, and resource allocation. The operating plans form the basis for resource requirements. Due to the changing constraints prior to operations, e.g., the addition of special trains, and the stochastic nature of the operational processes, for instance caused by weather conditions, shunting work plans can only be used for execution to a limited extent. This effort is made for planning due to the complex interdependencies between the operational processes and the predominant lack of IT support, which makes it difficult to determine resource requirements. The result is a discrepancy between the accuracy of the data as an input variable and the precision of the shunting work plan as an output variable. This leads to an illusory precision of the planning and possibly to an oversizing or undersizing of the resources. Hence, planning must be shortened and new tools are required. Motivated by this discrepancy and the new possibilities offered by methods from the _elds of operations research and machine learning, this dissertation provides a new planning method Parabola. Parabola determines with less planning effort and at high quality relevant parameters for resource requirements in rail freight facilities. This accelerates the planning process, reduces illusory precision before operations are carried out and enables decision-making with sufficient reliability due to the data accuracy. Consequently, the level of detail of the planning is harmonized with the reliability of the data. The planning procedure Parabola involves the analysis of numerous calculated operating plans and / or historical operating data. This trains a regression model that can then be used to determine the resource requirements. The calibration of the regression models requires many operating plans. For their generation, an integrated mathematical linear program is developed in this dissertation using the example of classification yards; for the first time, one program covers all relevant decision problems of tactical planning in a classification yard, from the train arrival to the train departure. This includes the definition of the connection between inbound and outbound trains, so-called railcar interchanges, as well as the scheduling of all operational processes with their assignment to local staff, locomotives, and infrastructure. All existing mathematical models in the literature are limited to parts of the problem. Thereafter follows a systematic generation of a test pool of problems named instances. The instances of this NP-hard problem cannot be reliably solved within an acceptable time frame with general-purpose solvers. Therefore, a tailored metaheuristic, namely an adaptive large neighborhood search (ALNS), is developed. It moves through the solution space by first destroying and then repairing a solution stepwise. Several competing subheuristics are available for this purpose. The ALNS combines multiple subheuristics, which have different characteristics and contribute to the solution progress, as determined by statistical evaluation. Consequently, the ALNS successfully adapts to the progress of the solution and to the problem structure. The ALNS, which is developed in this dissertation, generates high-quality solutions for realistic instances of an operating day in a few minutes of computing time. Based on the generated operating plans, five regression methods predicting the output variables of the operating plans – demand for locomotives, staff, and infrastructure – are tested. The most promising results are achieved by the methods tree boosting and random forest, which predict the resource requirements in over 90% of the cases for staff and locomotives accurately and for infrastructure with a tolerance of one track per bowl. Thus, a regression model can replace the more complex planning procedures after sufficient calibration according to local restrictions. The regression models allow the abstraction of quantity structures and performance behavior. Hence, for example, a dedicated timetable is no longer a prerequisite for tactical planning in classification yards. Since regression methods learn from many operating plans, the dependence on individual instances is reduced. By knowing many other plans, the regression model can predict robust resource requirements. In addition to the use case in tactical planning in rail freight facilities, the proposed new planning method Parabola opens a multitude of further _elds of application. By interpreting the trained regression model, the behavior of rail freight facilities can be understood in depth. Under certain circumstances, this allows a better understanding of the bottlenecks in these facilities and the relevant drivers of resource dimensioning. Furthermore, these models have potential applications in the design of network-wide performance requirements. By providing Parabola in this dissertation, the toolbox of railroad management science procedures and models is sensibly extended by using novel methods from operations research and machine learning.

There are many combinatorial optimization problems such as traveling salesman problem, quadratic-assignment problem, flow shop scheduling, that are computationally intractable. Tabu search based simulated annealing is a stochastic search algorithm that is widely used to solve combinatorial optimization problems. Due to excessive run time, there is a strong demand for a parallel version that can be applied to any problem with minimal modifications. Existing advanced and/or parallel versions of tabu search algorithms are specific to the problem at hand. This leads to a drawback of optimization only for that particular problem. In this work, we propose a parallel version of tabu search based SA on the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) platform. We propose two variants of the algorithm based on where the tabu list is stored (global vs. local). In the first version, the list is stored in the global shared memory such that all threads can access this list. Multiple random walks in solution space are carried out. Each walk avoids the moves made in rest of the walks due to their access to global tabu list at the expense of more time. In the second version, the list is stored at the block level and is shared by only the block threads. Groups of random walks are performed in parallel and a walk in a group avoids the moves made by the rest of the walks within that group due to their access to shared local tabu list. This version is better than the first version in terms of execution time. On the other hand, the first version finds the global optima more often. We present experimental results for six difficult optimization functions with known global optima. Compared to the CPU implementation with similar workload, the proposed GPU versions are faster by approximately three orders of magnitude and often find the global optima.

In this study, a metaheuristic procedure, particularly a variable neighborhood search procedure, is proposed to solve the combined location and selective traveling salesman problem in glass recycling. The collection of used glass is done by a collecting vehicle that visits a number of predefined collection centers, like restaurants and hospitals that are going to be referred to as compulsory points. Meanwhile, it is desired to locate a predetermined number of bottle banks to residential areas. The aim is to determine the location of these bottle banks and the route of the collecting vehicle so that all compulsory points and all bottle banks are visited and the maximum profit is obtained. Population zones are defined in residential areas and it is assumed that the people in a particular population zone will recycle their used glass to the closest bottle bank that fully or partially covers their zone. A Variable Neighborhood Search algorithm and its variant have been utilized for the solution of the problem. Computational experiments have been made on small and medium scale test problems, randomly generated and adapted from the literature.

In this study, the capacitated vehicle routing problem with shift based time constraints is taken into consideration. The study stemmed from an application in a cross dock. The considered cross dock is assumed to feed directly the production lines of its customer. The customer has a just-in-time production system that requires producing only in necessary quantities at the necessary times. This necessitates the arrival of the parts/products collected from different suppliers at the customer at the beginning of each shift of production. The shift times constitute deadlines for the products to be collected from the suppliers and used in each shift. The collection problem then can be seen as the capacitated vehicle routing problem with shift based time constraints. The objective of the collection problem is to minimize the routing costs. For the accomplishment of this objective it is required to decide on products of which shift(s) should be taken from a supplier when a vehicle arrives at that supplier. For the solution of the problem a mathematical model is formulated. Since the dealt problem is NP-Hard, meta-heuristic solution approaches based on variable neighborhood search and simulated annealing are proposed. Computational experimentation is conducted on the test problems which are tailored from the capacitated vehicle routing instances from the literature.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:22:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-04-18Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:08:30Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 taglialenha_sls_dr_ilha.pdf: 776756 bytes, checksum: ee3e13f4456bb0d2f6f5faaf48d8309f (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O Problema de Planejamento da Expansão de Sistemas de Transmissão de Energia Elétrica consiste em se escolher, entre um conjunto pré-definido de circuitos candidatos, aqueles que devem ser incorporados ao sistema de forma a minimizar os custos de investimento e operação ao e atender a demanda de energia futura ao longo de um horizonte de planejamento com confiabilidade, assumindo como conhecido o plano de geração. É considerado um problema muito complexo e difícil por se tratar de um problema não linear inteiro misto, não convexo, multimodal e altamente combinatório. Este problema tem sido solucionado usando técnicas clássicas como Decomposição ao de Benders e Branch and Bound, assim como também algoritmos heurísticos e metaheurísticas obtendo diversos resultados, mais com uma série de problemas como, por exemplo, alto esforço computacional e problemas de convergência. Neste trabalho apresentam-se duas novas técnicas de solução para o problema, a saber, as metaheurísticas Busca em Vizinhança Variável e a Busca Dispersa. A Busca em Vizinhança Variável é uma técnica baseada em trocas de estruturas de vizinhança dentro de um algoritmo de busca local, e a metaheurística Busca Dispersa, um método evolutivo que combina sistematicamente conjuntos de soluções para se obter solucões melhores. Essas técnicas de solução oferecem novas alternativas de solução que oferecem solução aos problemas encontrados com outros métodos, como é um baixo esforço computacional é uma melhor convergência, sendo este o principal aporte do trabalho. Os algoritmos são apresentados sistematicamente, explicando os seus algoritmos e a forma como são adaptados para resolver o problema do planejamento da expansão de sistemas de transmissão considerando-se a modelagem matemática conhecida com o modelo de transporte e o modelo DC. São realizados testes com os sistemas... / Electric Energy Transmission Network Expansion Problem consist in choose among a set of pre-defined circuits candidates, who must be incorporated into the system so as to minimize the investment costs and operation and meet the future energy demand over a planning horizon with reliability, assuming the generation plan is known. It is a very complex and difficult problem because it is non linear, non convex, multimodal and highly combinatorial. This problem has been solved using traditional techniques such as Benders decomposition and Branch and Bound, as well as heuristic algorithms and metaheuristics getting different results, but with a series of problems such as high computational effort and convergence problems. This paper tests out two new techniques for solving the problem as are the metaheuristics Variable Neighborhood Search and Scatter Search. The Variable Neighborhood Search is a technique based on trading structures within a neighborhood of a local search algorithm, and the Scatter Search metaheuristic is a method which combines systematically sets of solutions in an evolutionary way to achieve better solutions. These solution techniques offer new alternatives to solve the problems encountered with other methods, such as a low computational effort and better convergence, which is the main contribution of this work. The techniques are presented systematically, explaining their algorithms and the way they are adapted to solve the network expansion planning problem based on the mathematical model known as the transportation model and the DC model. They are tested with the systems Southern Brazilian with 46 buses and the IEEE 24 buses system, results are compared with those obtained with other metaheuristics, obtaining excellent results with a best performance both in processing speed as in computational effort.

Dans cette thèse nous nous intéressons à l'étude et à la résolution de problèmes d'optimisation dans le domaine du transport. La première problématique concerne le problème d'élaboration de tournées avec gestion des stocks, et nous considérons dans une seconde partie le problème du voyageur de commerce avec tirant d'eau. Nous avons développé des approches basées sur la recherche à voisinage variable pour résoudre ces problèmes NP-Difficiles, en proposant différentes structures de voisinages et schémas de résolution efficaces. L'évaluation globale des approches proposées sur des instances de la littérature montre leur efficacité. En particulier, nos algorithmes ont amélioré les résultats obtenus par les meilleures approches existantes pour ces deux problèmes. / This thesis deals with the study of optimization problems in the transportation domain. We first address the inventory routing problem and we consider the traveling salesman problem with draft limits in a second part. In both cases we have developed methods based on the variable neighborhood search to solve these NP-hard problems. We have proposed several efficient neighborhood structures and solving frameworks. The global evaluation of the proposed approach on sets of benchmarks available in the litterature shows a remarkable efficency and effectiveness. In particular, our algorithms have improved the results obtained by the current best approaches for these two problems.

This dissertation integrates the strengths of individual emergent delivery technologies with package characteristics, and rural community needs to meet the demand for equitable, accessible, and inclusive rural delivery that is also cost-effective. To find ways to meet the package delivery service needs in rural areas and to fill research gaps in rural package delivery modeling, this study introduced a novel model known as the Parallel Scheduling Vehicle Routing Problem (PSVRP) in an endeavor to revolutionize package delivery by enhancing its efficiency, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness. The PSVRP represents a state-of-the-art approach to vehicle routing problems, incorporating a diversified fleet of innovative delivery modes. The multi-modal fleet of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems works in unison to minimize operational costs in various settings. A solution methodology that implemented the Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS) algorithm was designed to solve the PSVRP in this research to produce optimal or near-optimal solutions. A variety of scenarios in a rural setting that include different quantities of customers to deliver to and different package weights are tested to evaluate if a multi-modal fleet of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems can provide cost-effective, low emissions, and efficient rural delivery services from local stores. Different fleet combinations are compared to demonstrate the best combined fleet for rural package delivery. It was found that implementation of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems does decrease rural package delivery cost, but it does not yet decrease cost enough for the return on investment to be high enough for industry to implement the technology. Additionally, it was found that electric technologies do significantly decrease emissions of package delivery in rural areas. However, without a carbon tax or regulation mandating reduced carbon emissions, it is unlikely that the delivery industry will quickly embrace these new delivery modes. This dissertation not only advances academic understanding and practical applications in vehicle routing problems but also contributes to social equity by researching methods to improve delivery services in underserved rural communities. The PSVRP model could benefit transportation professionals considering technology-enabled rural delivery, developing rural delivery plans, looking for cost-effective rural delivery solutions, implementing a heterogeneous fleet to optimize rural delivery, or planning to reduce rural delivery emissions. It is anticipated that these innovations will spur further research and investment into rural delivery optimization, fostering a more inclusive and accessible package delivery service landscape. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation integrates the strengths of individual emergent delivery technologies with package characteristics, and rural community needs to meet the demand for equitable, accessible, and inclusive rural delivery that is also cost-effective. To find ways to meet the package delivery service needs in rural areas and to fill research gaps in rural package delivery modeling, this study introduced a novel model known as the Parallel Scheduling Vehicle Routing Problem (PSVRP) in an endeavor to revolutionize package delivery by enhancing its efficiency, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness. The PSVRP represents a state-of-the-art approach to vehicle routing problems, incorporating a diversified fleet of innovative delivery modes. The multi-modal fleet of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems works in unison to minimize operational costs in various settings. A solution methodology that implemented the Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS) algorithm was designed to solve the PSVRP in this research to produce optimal or near-optimal solutions. A variety of scenarios in a rural setting that include different quantities of customers to deliver to and different package weights are tested to evaluate if a multi-modal fleet of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems can provide cost-effective, low emissions, and efficient rural delivery services from local stores. Different fleet combinations are compared to demonstrate the best combined fleet for rural package delivery. It was found that implementation of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems does decrease rural package delivery cost, but it does not yet decrease cost enough for the return on investment to be high enough for industry to implement the technology. Additionally, it was found that electric technologies do significantly decrease emissions of package delivery in rural areas. However, without a carbon tax or regulation mandating reduced carbon emissions, it is unlikely that the delivery industry will quickly embrace these new delivery modes. This dissertation not only advances academic understanding and practical applications in vehicle routing problems but also contributes to social equity by researching methods to improve delivery services in underserved rural communities. The PSVRP model could benefit transportation professionals considering technology-enabled rural delivery, developing rural delivery plans, looking for cost-effective rural delivery solutions, implementing a heterogeneous fleet to optimize rural delivery, or planning to reduce rural delivery emissions. It is anticipated that these innovations will spur further research and investment into rural delivery optimization, fostering a more inclusive and accessible package delivery service landscape.