Research on the two-echelon location-routing problem for coal mining equipment and materials in the shared warehouse mode

Abstract The shared warehouse mode facilitates the flexible allocation of coal mining equipment and materials (CMEM) within mining areas, with the site selection for shared warehouses and logistics distribution paths being critical. By treating coal enterprises and third-party logistics companies as decision-makers, this paper introduces soft time window constraints and establishes a bi-level programming model for the two-echelon location-routing problem (2E-LRP) under the shared warehouse mode. The model is solved using K-means clustering and a double mutation genetic algorithm (KDMGA). Additionally, customer demand priority, vehicle capacity, and service time are taken into account to enhance the accuracy and reliability of the overall optimization of the CMEM supply network layout. Finally, the model is validated through practical examples. The results indicate that KDMGA demonstrates a robust capability to effectively address the 2E-LRP for CMEM in the shared warehouse mode.