Fixed-Charge Transportation on a Path: Linear Programming Formulations

Abstract

The fixed-charge transportation problem is a fixed-charge network flow problem on a bipartite graph. This problem appears as a subproblem in many hard transportation problems, and has also strong links with the challenging big-bucket multi-item lot-sizing problem. We provide a polyhedral analysis of the polynomially solvable special case in which the associated bipartite graph is a path.

We describe a new class of inequalities that we call “path-modular” inequalities. We give two distinct proofs of their validity. The first one is direct and crucially relies on sub- and super-modularity of an associated set function, thereby providing an interesting link with flow-cover type inequalities. The second proof is by projecting a tight extended formulation, therefore also showing that these inequalities suffice to describe the convex hull of the feasible solutions to this problem. We finally show how to solve the separation problem associated to the path-modular inequalities in $\mathcal{O}(n^3)$ time.

This paper presents research results of the Belgian Program on Interuniversity Poles of Attraction initiated by the Belgian State, Prime Minister’s Office, Science Policy Programming. The scientific responsibility is assumed by the author.