arXiv:2603.29543v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Efficiently planning container loads onto trains is a computationally challenging combinatorial optimization problem, central to logistics and supply chain management. A primary source of this complexity arises from the need to model and reduce rehandle operations-unproductive crane moves required to access blocked containers. Conventional mathematical formulations address this by introducing explicit binary variables and a web of logical constraints for each potential rehandle, resulting in large-scale models that are difficult to solve. This paper presents a fundamental departure from this paradigm. We introduce an innovative and compact mathematical formulation for the Train Load Optimization (TLO) problem where the rehandle cost is calculated implicitly within the objective function. This novel approach helps prevent the need for dedicated rehandle variables and their associated constraints, leading to a dramatic reduction in model size. We provide a formal comparison against a conventional model to analytically demonstrate the significant reduction in the number of variables and constraints. The efficacy of our compact formulation is assessed through a simulated annealing metaheuristic, which finds high-quality loading plans for various problem instances. The results confirm that our model is not only more parsimonious but also practically effective, offering a scalable and powerful tool for modern rail logistics.

arXiv:2603.11545v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: We present an agentic AI framework for autonomous multimodal query processing that coordinates specialized tools across text, image, audio, video, and document modalities. A central Supervisor dynamically decomposes user queries, delegates subtasks to modality-appropriate tools (e.g., object detection, OCR, speech transcription), and synthesizes results through adaptive routing strategies rather than predetermined decision trees. For text-only queries, the framework uses learned routing via RouteLLM, while non-text paths use SLM-assisted modality decomposition. Evaluated on 2,847 queries across 15 task categories, our framework achieves 72% reduction in time-to-accurate-answer, 85% reduction in conversational rework, and 67% cost reduction compared to the matched hierarchical baseline while maintaining accuracy parity. These results demonstrate that intelligent centralized orchestration fundamentally improves multimodal AI deployment economics.