Heuristics for the multi-product satiating newsboy problem

Abstract

Due to the preference of satiation (of the profit target) over maximization (of expected profit) in uncertain situations, the newsboy problem with the satiation objective is an important practical problem. In the multi-product setting, practically usable solution methods are available only for two-product and some restricted three-product problems. We develop heuristics to solve larger problems (more number of products). Two search-based heuristics are developed and tested with a large number of versatile test problems.