Integrating multi-product production and distribution in newspaper logistics

This paper presents a tabu search metaheuristic to aid in the coordination and synchronization of the production and delivery of multi-product newspapers to bulk delivery locations. The problem is modeled as an open vehicle routing problem with time windows and zoning constraints. The methodology is applied to the newspaper production and distribution problem in a major metropolitan area. Computational results are presented and show significant improvement relative to an existing newspaper company's operations. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.