GRID-based services for optimized freight distribution

Industrial companies routinely face computationally intensive problems and deploy heuristic solutions, chosen only on the basis that no more computing power is available to search for possibly better solutions. Recent advances on heuristic and metaheuristic solution approaches have led to the development of very effective methodologies, several of them inspired by natural phenomena. These methods can usually get high quality solutions, but at a significant computing cost. The distribution of data and processing at the heart of grid computing seems thus synergetic with their high computing requirements. This work is a first report of a project aimed at validating the functionality of current grid and peer-to-peer technology as a service for advanced optimization algorithms. The study is applied to logistic and transportation optimization problems