System and method of solving large scale supply chain planning problems with integer constraints

1. A system for solving supply chain planning problems, comprising:

a database that stores data representing a planning problem of a supply chain network; and

a computer coupled with the database and configured to:

access the planning problem of the supply chain network stored in the database;

model the planning problem as a network of nodes and edges;

generate a hierarchical linear programming solution of the planning problem;

apply advanced heuristics to the generated hierarchical linear programming solution to obtain an integer feasible solution;

formulate a mixed integer program based on the integer solution to generate an optimized global hierarchical solution; and

store the generated optimized global hierarchical solution in the database.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further configured to model the planning problem as a network of nodes and edges.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further configured to take the hierarchical linear programming solution as a base and assign feasible integer values to discrete variables.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further configured to model one or more business objectives of one or more supply chain entities of the supply chain network as a hierarchy of linear objective functions and discrete decision variables.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the hierarchy of linear objective functions and the discrete decision variables are modeled as integer variables.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the computer is further configured to introduce integer variables and integer constraints and calculate values of all the objective functions.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the computer is further configured to introduce slack and surplus variables to the integer constraints and assign one or more values to maintain feasibility.

8. A computer-implemented method of solving supply chain planning problems, comprising:

accessing, by a computer, a planning problem of a supply chain network stored in a database;

modeling, by the computer, the planning problem as a network of nodes and edges;

generating, by the computer, a hierarchical linear programming solution of the planning problem;

applying, by the computer, advanced heuristics to the generated hierarchical linear programming solution to obtain an integer feasible solution;

formulating, by the computer, a mixed integer program based on the integer solution to generate an optimized global hierarchical solution; and

storing, by the computer, the generated optimized global hierarchical solution in the database.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising modeling the planning problem as a network of nodes and edge.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising taking the hierarchical linear programming solution as a base and assign feasible integer values to discrete variables.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising modeling one or more business objectives of one or more supply chain entities of the supply chain network as a hierarchy of linear objective functions and discrete decision variables.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the hierarchy of linear objective functions and the discrete decision variables are modeled as integer variables.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising introducing integer variables and integer constraints and calculating values of all the objective functions.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising introducing slack and surplus variables to the integer constraints and assign one or more values to maintain feasibility.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodied with software for solving supply chain planning problems, the software when executed using one or more computers is configured to:

access a planning problem of a supply chain network stored in a database;

model the planning problem as a network of nodes and edges;

generate a hierarchical linear programming solution of the planning problem;

apply advanced heuristics to the generated hierarchical linear programming solution to obtain an integer feasible solution;

formulate a mixed integer program based on the integer solution to generate an optimized global hierarchical solution; and

store the generated optimized global hierarchical solution in the database.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the software is further configured to model the planning problem as a network of nodes and edges.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the software is further configured to take the hierarchical linear programming solution as a base and assign feasible integer values to discrete variables.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the software is further configured to model one or more business objectives of one or more supply chain entities of the supply chain network as a hierarchy of linear objective functions and discrete decision variables.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the hierarchy of linear objective functions and the discrete decision variables are modeled as integer variables.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the software is further configured to introduce integer variables and integer constraints and calculate values of all the objective functions.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 , wherein the software is further configured to introduce slack and surplus variables to the integer constraints and assign one or more values to maintain feasibility.