Convoy movement problem - An optimization perspective

Abstract

This chapter addresses the convoy movement problem (CMP) in military logistics. CMP involves routing and scheduling military convoys within the strategic constraints. The chapter begins with an introduction to the domain of military logistics. It is followed by formal specification of CMP, computational complexity and classification of the problem. Section 2 highlights the state of art as is evident from the literature and the gaps that require further exploration. An integer programming model is then presented in section 3 and section 4 demonstrates its adaptability to different practical scenarios. In section 5, methods to generate lower and upper bounds are discussed in brief. Section 6 summarizes the results obtained, followed by conclusions and scope for further work in the last section. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.