A new approach to solve the multi-product multi-period inventory lot sizing with supplier selection problem

• This research work deals with the multi-product multi-period inventory lot sizing with supplier selection problem.
• An algorithm based on a reduce and optimize approach (ROA) is developed.
• Numerical experiments ratify the success of the proposed heuristic algorithm.
• On the set of the benchmark instances, the algorithm always obtained better solutions compared with those formerly published.
• According to the computational results, the algorithm outperforms CPLEX MIP solver in solution quality and computational time.

This research work deals with the multi-product multi-period inventory lot sizing with supplier selection problem. Formerly, this kind of problem was formulated and solved using an exhaustive enumeration algorithm and a heuristic algorithm. In this paper, a new algorithm based on a reduce and optimize approach and a new valid inequality is proposed to solve the multi-product multi-period inventory lot sizing with supplier selection problem. Numerical experiments ratify the success of the proposed heuristic algorithm. For the set of 150 benchmark instances, including 75 small-sized instances, 30 medium-sized instances, and 45 large-sized instances, the algorithm always obtained better solutions compared with those previously published. Furthermore, according to the computational results, the developed heuristic algorithm outperforms the CPLEX MIP solver in both solution quality and computational time.