A Heuristic Adjacent Extreme Point Algorithm for the Fixed Charge Problem

Abstract

An algorithm with three variations is presented for the approximate solution of fixed charge problems. Computational experience shows it to be extremely fast and to yield very good solutions. The basic approach in all three variants of the algorithm is (1) to obtain a local optimum by using the simplex method with a modification of the rule for selection of the variable to enter the basic solution, and (2) once at a local optimum to search for a better extreme point by jumping over adjacent extreme points to resume iterating two or three extreme points away. The algorithm is currently being used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Solid Waste Management Programs to solve a problem of regional solid waste planning: the selection of disposal sites to be developed and the determination of how the wastes of each municipality in a region should be distributed among the sites.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1973
Accession Number
ADA002003

Entities

People

  • Warren E. Walker

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Algorithms
  • Computations
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Environmental Protection
  • Health Services
  • Integer Programming
  • Iterations
  • Linear Programming
  • New York
  • Public Health
  • Simplex Method
  • Solid Waste
  • United States
  • Waste Management

Readers

  • Environmental Engineering.
  • Operations Research