关键词: 虚拟企业, 伙伴选择, 非线性整数规划

Abstract: The partner selection problem with bid cost and completion time factors with a due date constraint is a fundamental problem in virtual enterprises. This problem was proved to be a NP-complete problem. To develop a branch and bound method for this problem, a nonlinear integer-programming model was constructed. Monotone properties of objective function and constraint function were proved in this model. By the properties, a necessary and sufficient condition was found to determine an infeasible problem, and a sufficient condition was established to determine a problem with a known optimal solution. Moreover, a binary search method was designed to shrink sub-boxes generated by the method. Numerical experiments showed that the branch and bound method with these techniques was effective.

Key words: virtual enterprises, partner selection, nonlinear integer-programming, branch and bound method