Repository logo
 

A two-step post-optimality approach for a multi-objective railway maintenance planning problem

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Modhara, S 
Kirwan, A 
Wattanapongsakorn, N 

Abstract

Maintenance planning for railway networks is an exacting task, impacting numerous stakeholders with diverse objectives. While a multi-objective opti- mization model addresses the problem, it often results in numerous solutions on a Pareto front. Past researchers have introduced various Pareto pruning methods to autonomously create a shortlist of promising solutions. Nonethe- less, solely relying on data-driven approaches to finalize solutions can lead to undesirable outcomes for the decision maker (DM). To strike a balance between a human-involved and a data-centric decision, this article proposes a two-step approach. In the first step, Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) is utilized to group similar solutions on the Pareto front together, and a representative solution from each group is presented to the DM. After the DM identifies a focus region, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), including CCR and BCC models, is employed in the second step to rank the solutions in a selected group by their relative efficiency. Applying the proposed approach to a real- world case study demonstrates its capability in the railway asset management context. Key advantages of LPA lie in its ability to provide the appropriate number of solutions in the pruned set and its flexibility in grouping solutions. DEA enhances decision-making by ranking solutions within the focus region. Ultimately, by integrating automated algorithms with human insight, the two-step approach successfully identifies an efficient solution and mitigates the risk of obtaining undesirable outcomes on the Pareto front.

Description

Keywords

4605 Data Management and Data Science, 46 Information and Computing Sciences

Journal Title

Computers and Industrial Engineering

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0360-8352
1879-0550

Volume Title

Publisher

Elsevier BV