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Andreas Hagn

Publications and source records attributed to Andreas Hagn.

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An Adaptive Variable Neighborhood Search for a Family of Set Covering Routing Problems with an Application in Disaster Relief Operations

This paper studies a variant of the Set Covering Routing Problem (SCRP) motivated by post-disaster humanitarian logistics. We consider a hybrid distribution concept in which the majority of transportation is performed by helicopters, while ground transport is limited to the last mile, addressing severe accessibility constraints in disaster-affected regions. The resulting problem integrates landing site location, routing, and covering decisions, incorporating features of the Multi-Vehicle Covering Tour Problem (m-CTP) and the Vehicle Routing with Demand Allocation Problem (VRDAP) in a facility-capacitated, multi-depot setting. Due to the computational complexity of the problem, we develop an Adaptive Variable Neighborhood Search (AVNS) that combines established routing operators with novel mechanisms for covering decisions. The performance of the proposed approach is evaluated on benchmark instances for the related m-CTP and VRDAP problems, demonstrating competitive solution quality compared to problem-specific state-of-the-art approaches. Furthermore, we apply our AVNS to a real-world case study based on the 2024 flash floods in Afghanistan. The results highlight the practical relevance of the proposed framework and provide managerial insights into effective distribution strategies for disaster response operations.

math.OC

An Adaptive Variable Neighborhood Search for a Family of Set Covering Routing Problems with an Application in Disaster Relief Operations

This paper studies a variant of the Set Covering Routing Problem (SCRP) motivated by post-disaster humanitarian logistics. We consider a hybrid distribution concept in which the majority of transportation is performed by helicopters, while ground transport is limited to the last mile, addressing severe accessibility constraints in disaster-affected regions. The resulting problem integrates landing site location, routing, and covering decisions, incorporating features of the Multi-Vehicle Covering Tour Problem (m-CTP) and the Vehicle Routing with Demand Allocation Problem (VRDAP) in a facility-capacitated, multi-depo setting. Due to the computational complexity of the problem, we develop an Adaptive Variable Neighborhood Search (AVNS) that combines established routing operators with novel mechanisms for covering decisions. The performance of the proposed approach is evaluated on benchmark instances for the related m-CTP and VRDAP problems, demonstrating competitive solution quality compared to problem-specific state-of-the-art approaches. Furthermore, we apply our AVNS to a real-world case study based on the 2024 flash floods in Afghanistan. The results highlight the practical relevance of the proposed framework and provide managerial insights into effective distribution strategies for disaster response operations.

math.OC

A Branch-Price-Cut-And-Switch Approach for Optimizing Team Formation and Routing for Airport Baggage Handling Tasks with Stochastic Travel Times

In airport operations, optimally using dedicated personnel for baggage handling tasks plays a crucial role in the design of resource-efficient processes. Teams of workers with different qualifications must be formed, and loading or unloading tasks must be assigned to them. Each task has a time window within which it can be started and should be finished. Violating these temporal restrictions incurs severe financial penalties for the operator. In practice, various components of this process are subject to uncertainties. We consider the aforementioned problem under the assumption of time-dependent stochastic travel times across the apron. We present two binary program formulations to model the problem at hand and propose a novel solution approach that we call Branch-Price-Cut-and-Switch, in which we dynamically switch between two master problem formulations. Furthermore, we use an exact separation method to identify violated rank-1 Chv\'atal-Gomory cuts and utilize an efficient branching rule relying on task finish times. We test the algorithm on instances generated based on real-world data from a major European hub airport with a planning horizon of up to two hours, 30 flights per hour, and three available task execution modes to choose from. Our results indicate that our algorithm is able to significantly outperform existing solution approaches. Moreover, an explicit consideration of stochastic travel times allows for solutions that utilize the available workforce more efficiently, while simultaneously guaranteeing a stable service level for the baggage handling operator.

econ.GN