Tree search algorithms for the Sequential Ordering Problem

Abstract: We present a study of several generic tree search techniques applied to the Sequential Ordering Problem. This study enables us to propose a simple and competitive tree search algorithm. It consists of an iterative Beam Search algorithm that favors search over inference and integrates dynamic programming inspired cuts. It proves optimality on half of the SOPLIB instances and finds new best known solutions on 6 among 7 open instances of the benchmark in a small amount of time.