Special session on memetic algorithms for supply chains and logistics

Most real-world problems have several (often conflicting) objectives that have to be satisfied simultaneously, and a single perfect solution seldom exists   KES2010 14th International Conference on Knowledge-Based and Intelligent Information & Engineering Systems   8, 9 and 10 September 2010, Cardiff, UK   Conference Venue   The conference will take place in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, UK. Please refer to the official KES2010 web site for details on the conference and for travel information:   http://kes2010.kesinternational.org/     Title of Session   Memetic algorithms for supply chains and logistics   Name of Chair   Dr Christine L Mumford   Details of Session   Memetic algorithms (MA) combine evolutionary computing techniques with local search techniques, and represent a growing area of research.  Evolutionary algorithms can provide a powerful global search framework which can be enhanced by using specialized local improvement techniques to capitalize on available knowledge of the specific problem domain. MAs are also referred to as hybrid evolutionary algorithms.   A supply chain is system used to map commercial activity from suppliers to customers, and involves organizing the flow of materials, products, services and information through each stage of the resulting network. Numerous practical optimization problems have to be solved, if supply chains are to be fit-for-purpose and efficient.  Unfortunately, many of these are too large to be amenable to exact methods for their solution and “approximate methods” have to be considered.  The aim of this session is to present current state-of-the-art research on the use MAs for supply chain and logistics optimization problems. Contributions are welcome on (but not restricted to) the following topics in supply chain and logistics optimization, MAs for:   Vehicle routing and scheduling Distribution network optimization Multi-objective optimization for supply chains Inventory management Raw material sourcing Forecasting Optimization of supply chains under uncertainty   Papers covering sustainability issues will be particularly welcome   Paper submission   Participants are encouraged to submit high quality original papers (up to eight pages in length), following the above theme, in the Springer LNCS/LNAI format. The conference proceedings will be published by Springer-Verlag in the LNAI series. Detailed instructions on paper submission are provided:   http://kes2009.kesinternational.org/submission.php   All papers should be submitted in PDF through the conference web site.   Important dates   Deadline for submission: 1st March 2010 Notification of acceptance: 1st April 2010 Camera ready papers: 1st May 2010   Contact Details   Christine Mumford School of Computer Science and Informatics Cardiff University 5 The Parade, Cardiff cf24 3AA, United Kingdom T: +44 029 20875305 F: +44 029 20874598 E: C.L.Mumford@cs.cardiff.ac.uk   W: http://users.cs.cf.ac.uk/C.L.Mumford/