A Comprehensive Review of Optimization Techniques in Industrial Applications: Trends, Classifications, and Future Directions

In recent years, optimization techniques have played a central role in enhancing operational efficiency and decision-making across diverse industrial sectors, including manufacturing, logistics, and transportation, energy, healthcare, and agriculture. These sectors face complex, large-scale, and often nonlinear challenges that demand both precision and adaptability. The research contribution of this review is to provide a structured classification of optimization methods—namely exact algorithms, heuristics, metaheuristics, and AI-integrated hybrid models—and to critically evaluate their practical applications, limitations, and emerging trends across industries. This study adopts a review approach to identify and compare those techniques in solving various optimization problems. Through a detailed analysis of over 30 recent publications for last four years, the review highlights how these techniques are being applied in real-world industrial environments, including cold chain logistics, smart energy systems, precision agriculture, and healthcare scheduling. The results indicate a growing reliance on hybrid and AI-enhanced models due to their superior scalability, adaptability, and potential alignment with Industry 4.0 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, challenges remain in areas such as computational efficiency, model interpretability, and real-time data integration. In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights for both researchers and practitioners seeking to apply optimization techniques more effectively in industrial systems, while also identifying critical research gaps for future exploration by addressing the growing complexity and sustainability demands of modern industry.