Seminar: Computational Methods for Supply Chain Optimization

Summer Semester 2025

PD Dr. Timo Berthold

Content ↓ Requirements ↓ Dates ↓ Organization ↓ Assignments ↓ Contact ↓

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Content

Effective supply chain management relies heavily on advanced computational methods to tackle complex optimization problems. Typically coming from large-scale applications, supply chain optimization problems demand robust mathematical approaches to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
This seminar focuses on computational methods used in supply chain optimization, with an emphasis on algorithms and models used in practice. Topics include mixed-integer programming and heuristic methods tailored to supply chain challenges such as transportation, production planning, and warehouse management.
Each student will be assigned a research paper focusing on a specific computational approach in supply chain optimization. You will be expected to prepare a presentation that explains the method in detail and answer questions on the topic. Additionally, you will submit a written summary and a critical review of the assigned paper.
This seminar will be co-hosted by Dr. Jakob Witzig, AI & Optimization Algorithm Architect at SAP's Supply Chain Optimization Unit and Gregor Hendel, Senior Software Engineer at FICO.

The slides from the initial meeting can be found here.

Requirements

Basic knowledge in mathematical optimization is a requirement; specifically, linear programming and basic graph algorithms should be known. Knowledge of integer programming is a plus but not required.

Dates

First meeting: Introduction and paper assignment

04.04.2025, 15:30-16:30 in room 4359, at ZIB, FU campus.

Second meeting: Short talks

02.06.2025, 16:00-18:00, FH303 (Fraunhoferstr. 33-36)

Third meeting: Seminar talks

17.07.2025, 9:00-18:00, in room 2006, at ZIB, FU campus. Ground floor, round building, main entrance.

Organization

At the first meeting we will shortly discuss the topic in general and distribute the assignments, i.e., papers.
At the second meeting, you are supposed to give a short, introductory talk (at most 5 minutes) on your topic.
To pass, you are required to hand in a short summary of your talk (LaTeX, 5 pages) and a 0.5-1 page review. The summary has to be sent to your advisor by e-mail two weeks before the third meeting (July 3rd). It will be graded and handed back to you before the final meeting in order to provide a first feedback. The seminar itself will take place on one day at the end of the semester. Talks should be prepared for 40 minutes, including 10 minutes for questions and discussions. Having submitted the summary on time is a requirement for giving the final presentation. Your final grade will be composed of 60% from the evaluation of your presentation, 30% of the quality of your summary and 10% for your paper review. It should go without saying that attendance at all meetings, including all other presentations, is mandatory.

Assignments

Candidate	Topic	Supervisor
Payel	Tackling Industrial-Scale Supply Chain Problems by Mixed-Integer Programming	TB
Onat	Modelling Practical Lot-Sizing Problems as Mixed-Integer Programs	TB
Alex	On alternative mixed integer programming formulations and LP-based heuristics for lot-sizing with setup times	GH
Sebastian	Production Scheduling and Rescheduling with Genetic Algorithms	GH
Avaneesh	A general heuristic for production planning problems	GH
Naveed	Optimal planning in large multi-site production networks	JW
Anna	A genetic algorithm approach for multi-objective optimization of supply chain networks	JW
Fabian	Constrained Local Search for Last-Mile Routing	JW
Jan-Erik	Heuristic algorithms for the three-dimensional bin packing problem	TB

Contact

	consultation-hours	room	email
PD Dr. Timo Berthold	on request	ZIB 4351	t.berthold(guess what character)campus.tu-berlin.de
Dr. Jakob Witzig	on request	only online	jakob.witzig(guess what character)sap.com
Dr. Gregor Hendel	on request	ZIB 4351	gregorhendel(guess what character)fico.com

Last updated: 6. January 2025