A nonlinear multiobjective model for the product portfolio optimization: An integer programming

Optimization of the product portfolio has been recognized as a critical problem in industry, management, economy and so on. It aims at the selection of an optimal mix of the products to offer in the target market. As a probability function, reliability is an essential objective of the problem which linear models often fail to evaluate it. Here, we develop a multiobjective integer nonlinear constraint model for the problem. Our model provides opportunities to consider the knowledge transferring cost and the environmental effects, as nowadays important concerns of the world, in addition to the classical factors operational cost and reliability. Also, the model is designed in a way to simultaneously optimize the input materials and the products. Although being to some extent complicated, the model can be efficiently solved by the metaheuristic algorithms. Finally, we make some numerical experiments on a simulated test problem.