Development of finite capacity material requirement planning system for assembly operations

Abstract

A conventional material requirement planning (MRP) logic considers infinite capacity of machines. A planner must manually solve capacity problems (if any) after the material requirement plan has been generated. This paper tries to alleviate the capacity problems by developing a finite capacity material requirement planning (FCMRP) system for assembly operations. The FCMRP system is capable of automatically allocating some jobs from one machine to another and adjusting timing of the jobs considering a finite available time of all machines. The FCMRP system has been tested using real data from a steering-wheel factory. Effects of options – namely, scheduling, rearranging and adjusting options in the FCMRP system on the performance measures – are statistically analysed. The FCMRP system can reduce required overtime if the jobs are allowed to be completed earlier than the due dates. The required overtime can be further reduced if the jobs are allowed to be completed later than the due dates.

Keywords:

• Material requirement planning
• finite capacity
• theory of constraints
• assembly operations
• application in industry

Acknowledgement

This research has been supported by the Royal Golden Jubilee PhD Programme of Thailand Research Fund, Contract No. PHD/0026/2543.

TEERADEJ WUTTIPORNPUN is a doctoral student in the Industrial Engineering Program at Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT), Thammasat University. He holds a B.Eng. degree in Electrical Engineering from King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) and a M.Eng. degree in Industrial Engineering from King Mongkut's Institute of Technology North Bangkok (KMITNB). His research interests include production planning and inventory control, simulations, and applied operations research.

PISAL YENRADEE is an Associate Professor in Industrial Engineering Program at Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT), Thammasat University. He holds a B.Eng. degree in Production Engineering from King Mongkut's Institute of Technology and M.Eng. and D.Eng. in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Asian Institute of Technology. His research interests focus on production planning and inventory control systems, JIT, ERP, TOC, finite capacity scheduling systems, aggregate production planning, master production scheduling, supply chain, and applied operations research. He has published papers in and served as a reviewer for many international journals. He is currently a regional editor of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems (IEMS) journal.