A spread-sheet model for efficient production and scheduling of a manufacturing line/cell

Abstract

In this paper we develop an efficient spread-sheet production planning/scheduling model for a resource-constraint production line or a manufacturing cell that produces several products but one at a time with significant changeover time and changeover cost. There are also management and physical constraints related to the operating hours, production capacity and amount of inventory allowed. The production line/cell supplies several products to customers who pull the products according to their own operating policy (working hours) that may be different from manufacture's operating hours. We also show several real-world applications and highlight the benefits and merits of the model.

Keywords:

• scheduling
• production planning
• production line/manufacturing cell
• inventory control
• economic lot scheduling problem (ELSP)

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to valuable comments from the anonymous reviewers.