An evolutionary algorithm for order splitting with multiple transport alternatives

It is assumed that only a limited number of transport alternatives are capable of shipping the goods from the supplier to the receiver. Moreover, if a certain transport alternative is selected to ship the goods, then its entire capacity is used. These assumptions imply that the number of possible order quantities is finite and that the problem can be formulated as a combinatorial optimization problem. In a first step to explore the use of metaheuristics for optimization problems like these, an Evolutionary Algorithm is developed in this paper. The heuristic is tested on real-life problem instances.