A Metaheuristic-Enhanced Optimization Approach for Facility Location in the Wood Supply Chain

This paper looks at ways to solve warehouse location problems in wood supply chains. We tested four methods: two direct solvers (CBC and Gurobi) and two mixed methods that combine genetic algorithms with these solvers. We used test data of different sizes to see which method works best for both good answers and fast solving times. Our tests show that the Gurobi solver works best, with the fastest times and best answers for all data sizes. However, the mixed method using genetic algorithms with the CBC solver is a good choice too, especially for complex problems with many warehouses. This mixed method gives good results while being free and open-source, making it available to organizations that can't afford expensive software. As problems get more complex, the difference between Gurobi and the genetic algorithm with CBC becomes less important.