Hierarchical production planning at a multiproduct multiprocessor fibreglass manufacturing facility

Abstract

Abstract. A hierarchical production planning model is developed for a forming facility of a major fibreglass manufacturer. The model establishes aggregate quarterly quantities for families of products, monthly disaggregate production quantities for end-items within these families, and a weekly sequencing schedule of end-items. A key feature of the planning system is its ability to decompose total set-up cost into primary and secondary components and to account appropriately for each component at a distinct level of the planning hierarchy. The mathematical programming formulations, the accompanying solution algorithms, and the results of their application to nine months of actual company demand and cost data are presented.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

RHONDA L. AULL

Rhonda L. AULL, Ph.D., is visiting assistant professor of operations management in the department of business administration at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware. Her teaching areas include both graduate and undergraduate courses in operations administration and management science. She is a member of the core faculty of the interdisciplinary Operations Research graduate program at the University of Delaware. Dr Aull's major research areas are hierarchical production planning and inventory management. She received her B.S. and M.S. in mathematical sciences from Clemson University and her Ph.D. in management science from Clemson University. She is a member of the Decision Sciences Institute, APICS, and NAPM.

E. EARL BURCH

EARL BURCH, Ph.D., is professor of management and mathematical sciences at Clemson University and President of Quality Associates, Inc., a quality management/SPC consulting firm with numerous clients nationally and internationally. Clients have included Hoechst-Celanese Textile Fibers, Hercules, Inc., Kimberly-Clark Corp., Printpack, Milliken & Co., Greenwood Mills, Union Carbide, Owens-Corning Fiberglass, American Cyanamid, Monsanto, DuPont, and Fiber Industries. Dr Burch has been involved in all phases of quality management from the development of a corporate quality philosophy and the implementation of SPC to training operators in basic statistics, SPC problem-solving and team building. Dr Burch has taught at Clemson for the last 16 years. His courses have included: design and analysis of experiments, production planning and scheduling, advanced statistical process control, and management science. Dr Burch has published extensively in such journals as: The Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Quality Technology, Decision Sciences, Interfaces, The Journal of Business and Production and Inventory Management. Dr Earl Burch received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from Clemson University. He is a member of The Institute of Management Sciences, ASQC and APICS.