The tree development method for solving the travelling-salesman problem

Abstract

Mathematicians have long amused themselves with very difficult problems that are treated as puzzles. One of the more recent of these is the travelling-salesman problem. During last two decades several methods have been developed for solving the travelling-salesman problem, which is akin to many other important problems. The problem of determining a manufacturing schedule, when a number of products are to be manufactured over a production facility, is identical to the travelling-salesman problem. This paper discusses a simple approach to the solution of such production scheduling problems.