Optimization of warehouse locations by evolutionary algorithms

In this thesis, we propose an algorithm to solve the warehouse location-routing prob- lem. The task represents a difficult combinatorial optimization problem that is of great practical importance in logistic applications. It is a combination of multiple well-known problems that cannot be solved separately and therefore we approach this as a new prob- lem completely. We introduce Evolutionary Algorithms and their basic concepts as well as define our specific problem more specifically and we use a branch of Evolutionary Algorithms to optimize the placement of warehouses on a given map. Since our main goal is to optimize delivery time, we also run experiments in order to determine how the algorithm performs compared to Evolutionary Algorithm optimizing distance. We also do not take into consideration cost of warehouse itself nor cost of storing and cost of the trucks since goal of this thesis is to optimize delivery time.