A fixed-charge multicommodity network flow algorithm and a warehouse location application

This document formulates a fixed-charge, multicommodity, minimum-cost network flow model, and fits the model to the distribution system design problem of a major Australian dairy producer. Due to its sparse demography and high standard of living, Australia is a particularly interesting place to apply distribution research. Developed is an implicit enumeration algorithm which is capable of solving a large-scale problem and which indicates significant savings opportunities for the Australian firm. Additional keywords: optimization; integer programming; heuristic methods. (Author).