The performance of rolling production schedules in a process industry

Abstract

In this paper we study lot-sizing and changeover decisions in production schedules that are implemented on a rolling-horizon basis. The study is carried out by comparing production schedules for the packaging operations of a pharmaceutical company that produces various products on several capacitated production lines. The schedules are obtained by solving a mixed-integer programming formulation by using a heuristic procedure. We examine the effects of the number of periods in the planning horizon, the starting inventory and the demand fluctuation on the schedules. We show empirically that the saving in annual production cost diminishes rapidly as more demand periods are added to the planning horizon. Computational results are reported.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

RENATO DE MATTA

Renato de Matta is an Assistant Professor of Management Sciences at the University of Iowa. He received his Ph.D. degree in Decision Sciences at the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania. His Bachelors and Masters are in Industrial Engineering from the University of the Philippines. His research expertise is in the areas of production planning and scheduling, integer programming and flexible manufacturing systems. He has published in various journals including Operations Research, Interfaces and European Journal of Operational Research. Dr de Matta is a member of TIMS-ORSA.

MONIQUE GUIGNARD

Monique Guignard is a Full Professor of Operations and Information Management Department at the Wharton Business School. University of Pennsylvania. She received her degrees, Doctorat de Specialité in Applied Mathematics and Doctorates-Sciences Mathematiques, at the University of Lille in France. Her research expertise is in mathematical programming (especially integer programming), applications of Operations Research to scheduling in manufacturing, and to the management of natural resources (forestry management, hydroelectric power generation, etc.). She has published in various journals including Operations Research, Mathematical Programming, Networks, European Journal of Operational Research and Annals of Operations Research. Dr Guignard is a member of TIMS-ORSA.