Column Generation

Column Generation is an insightful overview of the state of the art in integer programming column generation and its many applications. The volume begins with "e;A Primer in Column Generation"e; which outlines the theory and ideas necessary to solve large-scale practical problems, illustrated with a variety of examples. Other chapters follow this introduction on "e;Shortest Path Problems with Resource Constraints,"e; "e;Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Window,"e; "e;Branch-and-Price Heuristics,"e; "e;Cutting Stock Problems,"e; each dealing with methodological aspects of the field. Three chapters deal with transportation applications: "e;Large-scale Models in the Airline Industry,"e; "e;Robust Inventory Ship Routing by Column Generation,"e; and "e;Ship Scheduling with Recurring Visits and Visit Separation Requirements."e; Production is the focus of another three chapters: "e;Combining Column Generation and Lagrangian Relaxation,"e; "e;Dantzig-Wolfe Decomposition for Job Shop Scheduling,"e; and "e;Applying Column Generation to Machine Scheduling."e; The final chapter by Francois Vanderbeck, "e;Implementing Mixed Integer Column Generation,"e; reviews how to set-up the Dantzig-Wolfe reformulation, adapt standard MIP techniques to the column generation context (branching, preprocessing, primal heuristics), and deal with specific column generation issues (initialization, stabilization, column management strategies).