Analyzing the location of city logistics centers in Istanbul by integrating Geographic Information Systems with Binary Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm

Abstract

The advantages of logistics centers for companies, cities, and countries have been discussed in the literature and generally mathematical model-based evaluations besides multi-criteria approaches are proposed for site selection processes. However, since mathematical modeling of multiple site selection often turns out to be NP-hard problem structure, it is not always possible to obtain an optimal solution by the solvers. For this reason, various meta-heuristic approaches have emerged to solve these complex models. In this context, the aim of this study is to propose an integrated methodology which seeks an optimum result efficiently regarding a logistics center location selection problem. Thus, the optimal clustering of logistics mobility in a metropolitan area was carried out with GIS and a meta-heuristic approach. GIS produced the spatial information needed by p-median model, then the meta-heuristic approach determined the optimal result that considers the logistics costs. BPSO algorithm has employed as the meta-heuristic and it is observed that the algorithm can reach the optimum results within superior times for the problem sizes tested where binary integer programming verified the optimums and the algorithm continued to reach improved solutions where the exact algorithms failed for larger instances. The integrated solution methodology is applied to a large metropolitan region and it is found that it can be used properly by the urban city planners and supply chain managers to analyze critical nodes of transportation networks of megacities.