Meta-Heuristics for Dynamic Lot Sizing: a review and comparison of solution approaches

Proofs from complexity theory as well as computational experiments indicate that most lot sizing problems are hard to solve. Because these problems are so difficult, various solution techniques have been proposed to solve them. In the past decade, meta-heuristics such as tabu search, genetic algorithms and simulated annealing, have become popular and efficient tools for solving hard combinational optimization problems. We review the various meta-heuristics that have been specifically developed to solve lot sizing problems, discussing their main components such as representation, evaluation neighborhood definition and genetic operators. Further, we briefly review other solution approaches, such as dynamic programming, cutting planes, Dantzig-Wolfe decomposition, Lagrange relaxation and dedicated heuristics. This allows us to compare these techniques. Understanding their respective advantages and disadvantages gives insight into how we can integrate elements from several solution approaches into more powerful hybrid algorithms. Finally, we discuss general guidelines for computational experiments and illustrate these with several examples

Integration of production, maintenance and quality : Modelling and solution approaches

Dans cette thèse, nous analysons le problème de l'intégration de la planification de production et de la maintenance préventive, ainsi que l'élaboration du système de contrôle de la qualité. Premièrement, on considère un système de production composé d'une machine et de plusieurs produits dans un contexte incertain, dont les prix et le coût changent d'une période à l'autre. La machine se détériore avec le temps et sa probabilité de défaillance, ainsi que le risque de passage à un état hors contrôle augmentent. Le taux de défaillance dans un état dégradé est plus élevé et donc, des coûts liés à la qualité s’imposent. Lorsque la machine tombe en panne, une maintenance corrective ou une réparation minimale seront initiées pour la remettre en marche sans influer ses conditions ou le processus de détérioration. L'augmentation du nombre de défaillances de la machine se traduit par un temps d'arrêt supérieur et un taux de disponibilité inférieur. D'autre part, la réalisation des plans de production est fortement influencée par la disponibilité et la fiabilité de la machine. Les interactions entre la planification de la maintenance et celle de la production sont incorporées dans notre modèle mathématique. Dans la première étape, l'effet de maintenance sur la qualité est pris en compte. La maintenance préventive est considérée comme imparfaite. La condition de la machine est définie par l’âge actuel, et la machine dispose de plusieurs niveaux de maintenance avec des caractéristiques différentes (coûts, délais d'exécution et impacts sur les conditions du système). La détermination des niveaux de maintenance préventive optimaux conduit à un problème d’optimisation difficile. Un modèle de maximisation du profit est développé, dans lequel la vente des produits conformes et non conformes, les coûts de la production, les stocks tenus, la rupture de stock, la configuration de la machine, la maintenance préventive et corrective, le remplacement de la machine et le coût de la qualité sont considérés dans la fonction de l’objectif. De plus, un système composé de plusieurs machines est étudié. Dans cette extension, les nombres optimaux d’inspections est également considéré. La fonction de l’objectif consiste à minimiser le coût total qui est la somme des coûts liés à la maintenance, la production et la qualité. Ensuite, en tenant compte de la complexité des modèles préposés, nous développons des méthodes de résolution efficaces qui sont fondées sur la combinaison d'algorithmes génétiques avec des méthodes de recherches locales. On présente un algorithme mimétique qui emploi l’algorithme Nelder-Mead, avec un logiciel d'optimisation pour déterminer les valeurs exactes de plusieurs variables de décisions à chaque évaluation. La méthode de résolution proposée est comparée, en termes de temps d’exécution et de qualités des solutions, avec plusieurs méthodes Métaheuristiques. Mots-clés : Planification de la production, Maintenance préventive imparfaite, Inspection, Qualité, Modèles intégrés, MétaheuristiquesIn this thesis, we study the integrated planning of production, maintenance, and quality in multi-product, multi-period imperfect systems. First, we consider a production system composed of one machine and several products in a time-varying context. The machine deteriorates with time and so, the probability of machine failure, or the risk of a shift to an out-of-control state, increases. The defective rate in the shifted state is higher and so, quality related costs will be imposed. When the machine fails, a corrective maintenance or a minimal repair will be initiated to bring the machine in operation without influencing on its conditions or on the deterioration process. Increasing the expected number of machine failures results in a higher downtime and a lower availability rate. On the other hand, realization of the production plans is significantly influenced by the machine availability and reliability. The interactions between maintenance scheduling and production planning are incorporated in the mathematical model. In the first step, the impact of maintenance on the expected quality level is addressed. The maintenance is also imperfect and the machine conditions after maintenance can be anywhere between as-good-as-new and as-bad-as-old situations. Machine conditions are stated by its effective age, and the machine has several maintenance levels with different costs, execution times, and impacts on the system conditions. High level maintenances on the one hand have greater influences on the improvement of the system state and on the other hand, they occupy more the available production time. The optimal determination of such preventive maintenance levels to be performed at each maintenance intrusion is a challenging problem. A profit maximization model is developed, where the sale of conforming and non-conforming products, costs of production, inventory holding, backorder, setup, preventive and corrective maintenance, machine replacement, and the quality cost are addressed in the objective function. Then, a system with multiple machines is taken into account. In this extension, the number of quality inspections is involved in the joint model. The objective function minimizes the total cost which is the sum of maintenance, production and quality costs. In order to reduce the gap between the theory and the application of joint models, and taking into account the complexity of the integrated problems, we have developed an efficient solution method that is based on the combination of genetic algorithms with local search and problem specific methods. The proposed memetic algorithm employs Nelder-Mead algorithm along with an optimization package for exact determination of the values of several decision variables in each chromosome evolution. The method extracts not only the positive knowledge in good solutions, but also the negative knowledge in poor individuals to determine the algorithm transitions. The method is compared in terms of the solution time and quality to several heuristic methods. Keywords : Multi-period production planning, Imperfect preventive maintenance, Inspection, Quality, Integrated model, Metaheuristic

Models and Algorithms for the Optimisation of Replenishment, Production and Distribution Plans in Industrial Enterprises

Tesis por compendio[ES] La optimización en las empresas manufactureras es especialmente importante, debido a las grandes inversiones que realizan, ya que a veces estas inversiones no obtienen el rendimiento esperado porque los márgenes de beneficio de los productos son muy ajustados. Por ello, las empresas tratan de maximizar el uso de los recursos productivos y financieros minimizando el tiempo perdido y, al mismo tiempo, mejorando los flujos de los procesos y satisfaciendo las necesidades del mercado. El proceso de planificación es una actividad crítica para las empresas. Esta tarea implica grandes retos debido a los cambios del mercado, las alteraciones en los procesos de producción dentro de la empresa y en la cadena de suministro, y los cambios en la legislación, entre otros. La planificación del aprovisionamiento, la producción y la distribución desempeña un papel fundamental en el rendimiento de las empresas manufactureras, ya que una planificación ineficaz de los proveedores, los procesos de producción y los sistemas de distribución contribuye a aumentar los costes de los productos, a alargar los plazos de entrega y a reducir los beneficios. La planificación eficaz es un proceso complejo que abarca una amplia gama de actividades para garantizar que los equipos, los materiales y los recursos humanos estén disponibles en el momento y el lugar adecuados. Motivados por la complejidad de la planificación en las empresas manufactureras, esta tesis estudia y desarrolla herramientas cuantitativas para ayudar a los planificadores en los procesos de la planificación del aprovisionamiento, producción y distribución. Desde esta perspectiva, se proponen modelos realistas y métodos eficientes para apoyar la toma de decisiones en las empresas industriales, principalmente en las pequeñas y medianas empresas (PYMES). Las aportaciones de esta tesis suponen un avance científico basado en una exhaustiva revisión bibliográfica sobre la planificación del aprovisionamiento, la producción y la distribución que ayuda a comprender los principales modelos y algoritmos utilizados para resolver estos planes, y pone en relieve las tendencias y las futuras direcciones de investigación. También proporciona un marco holístico para caracterizar los modelos y algoritmos centrándose en la planificación de la producción, la programación y la secuenciación. Esta tesis también propone una herramienta de apoyo a la decisión para seleccionar un algoritmo o método de solución para resolver problemas concretos de la planificación del aprovisionamiento, producción y distribución en función de su complejidad, lo que permite a los planificadores no duplicar esfuerzos de modelización o programación de técnicas de solución. Por último, se desarrollan nuevos modelos matemáticos y enfoques de solución de última generación, como los algoritmos matheurísticos, que combinan la programación matemática y las técnicas metaheurísticas. Los nuevos modelos y algoritmos comprenden mejoras en términos de rendimiento computacional, e incluyen características realistas de los problemas del mundo real a los que se enfrentan las empresas de fabricación. Los modelos matemáticos han sido validados con un caso de una importante empresa del sector de la automoción en España, lo que ha permitido evaluar la relevancia práctica de estos novedosos modelos utilizando instancias de gran tamaño, similares a las existentes en la empresa objeto de estudio. Además, los algoritmos matheurísticos han sido probados utilizando herramientas libres y de código abierto. Esto también contribuye a la práctica de la investigación operativa, y proporciona una visión de cómo desplegar estos métodos de solución y el tiempo de cálculo y rendimiento de la brecha que se puede obtener mediante el uso de software libre o de código abierto.[CA] L'optimització a les empreses manufactureres és especialment important, a causa de les grans inversions que realitzen, ja que de vegades aquestes inversions no obtenen el rendiment esperat perquè els marges de benefici dels productes són molt ajustats. Per això, les empreses intenten maximitzar l'ús dels recursos productius i financers minimitzant el temps perdut i, alhora, millorant els fluxos dels processos i satisfent les necessitats del mercat. El procés de planificació és una activitat crítica per a les empreses. Aquesta tasca implica grans reptes a causa dels canvis del mercat, les alteracions en els processos de producció dins de l'empresa i la cadena de subministrament, i els canvis en la legislació, entre altres. La planificació de l'aprovisionament, la producció i la distribució té un paper fonamental en el rendiment de les empreses manufactureres, ja que una planificació ineficaç dels proveïdors, els processos de producció i els sistemes de distribució contribueix a augmentar els costos dels productes, allargar els terminis de lliurament i reduir els beneficis. La planificació eficaç és un procés complex que abasta una àmplia gamma d'activitats per garantir que els equips, els materials i els recursos humans estiguen disponibles al moment i al lloc adequats. Motivats per la complexitat de la planificació a les empreses manufactureres, aquesta tesi estudia i desenvolupa eines quantitatives per ajudar als planificadors en els processos de la planificació de l'aprovisionament, producció i distribució. Des d'aquesta perspectiva, es proposen models realistes i mètodes eficients per donar suport a la presa de decisions a les empreses industrials, principalment a les petites i mitjanes empreses (PIMES). Les aportacions d'aquesta tesi suposen un avenç científic basat en una exhaustiva revisió bibliogràfica sobre la planificació de l'aprovisionament, la producció i la distribució que ajuda a comprendre els principals models i algorismes utilitzats per resoldre aquests plans, i posa de relleu les tendències i les futures direccions de recerca. També proporciona un marc holístic per caracteritzar els models i algorismes centrant-se en la planificació de la producció, la programació i la seqüenciació. Aquesta tesi també proposa una eina de suport a la decisió per seleccionar un algorisme o mètode de solució per resoldre problemes concrets de la planificació de l'aprovisionament, producció i distribució en funció de la seua complexitat, cosa que permet als planificadors no duplicar esforços de modelització o programació de tècniques de solució. Finalment, es desenvolupen nous models matemàtics i enfocaments de solució d'última generació, com ara els algoritmes matheurístics, que combinen la programació matemàtica i les tècniques metaheurístiques. Els nous models i algoritmes comprenen millores en termes de rendiment computacional, i inclouen característiques realistes dels problemes del món real a què s'enfronten les empreses de fabricació. Els models matemàtics han estat validats amb un cas d'una important empresa del sector de l'automoció a Espanya, cosa que ha permés avaluar la rellevància pràctica d'aquests nous models utilitzant instàncies grans, similars a les existents a l'empresa objecte d'estudi. A més, els algorismes matheurístics han estat provats utilitzant eines lliures i de codi obert. Això també contribueix a la pràctica de la investigació operativa, i proporciona una visió de com desplegar aquests mètodes de solució i el temps de càlcul i rendiment de la bretxa que es pot obtindre mitjançant l'ús de programari lliure o de codi obert.[EN] Optimisation in manufacturing companies is especially important, due to the large investments they make, as sometimes these investments do not obtain the expected return because the profit margins of products are very tight. Therefore, companies seek to maximise the use of productive and financial resources by minimising lost time and, at the same time, improving process flows while meeting market needs. The planning process is a critical activity for companies. This task involves great challenges due to market changes, alterations in production processes within the company and in the supply chain, and changes in legislation, among others. Planning of replenishment, production and distribution plays a critical role in the performance of manufacturing companies because ineffective planning of suppliers, production processes and distribution systems contributes to higher product costs, longer lead times and less profits. Effective planning is a complex process that encompasses a wide range of activities to ensure that equipment, materials and human resources are available in the right time and the right place. Motivated by the complexity of planning in manufacturing companies, this thesis studies and develops quantitative tools to help planners in the replenishment, production and delivery planning processes. From this perspective, realistic models and efficient methods are proposed to support decision making in industrial companies, mainly in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The contributions of this thesis represent a scientific breakthrough based on a comprehensive literature review about replenishment, production and distribution planning that helps to understand the main models and algorithms used to solve these plans, and highlights trends and future research directions. It also provides a holistic framework to characterise models and algorithms by focusing on production planning, scheduling and sequencing. This thesis also proposes a decision support tool for selecting an algorithm or solution method to solve concrete replenishment, production and distribution planning problems according to their complexity, which allows planners to not duplicate efforts modelling or programming solution techniques. Finally, new state-of-the-art mathematical models and solution approaches are developed, such as matheuristic algorithms, which combine mathematical programming and metaheuristic techniques. The new models and algorithms comprise improvements in computational performance terms, and include realistic features of real-world problems faced by manufacturing companies. The mathematical models have been validated with a case of an important company in the automotive sector in Spain, which allowed to evaluate the practical relevance of these novel models using large instances, similarly to those existing in the company under study. In addition, the matheuristic algorithms have been tested using free and open-source tools. This also helps to contribute to the practice of operations research, and provides insight into how to deploy these solution methods and the computational time and gap performance that can be obtained by using free or open-source software.This work would not have been possible without the following funding sources: Conselleria de Educación, Investigación, Cultura y Deporte, Generalitat Valenciana for hiring predoctoral research staff with Grant (ACIF/2018/170) and the European Social Fund with the Grant Operational Programme of FSE 2014-2020. Conselleria de Educación, Investigación, Cultura y Deporte, Generalitat Valenciana for predoctoral contract students to stay in research centers outside the research centers outside the Valencian Community (BEFPI/2021/040) and the European Social Fund.Guzmán Ortiz, BE. (2022). Models and Algorithms for the Optimisation of Replenishment, Production and Distribution Plans in Industrial Enterprises [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/187461Compendi

A Tabu List-Based Algorithm for Capacitated Multilevel Lot-Sizing with Alternate Bills of Materials and Co-Production Environments

[EN] The definition of lot sizes represents one of the most important decisions in production planning. Lot-sizing turns into an increasingly complex set of decisions that requires efficient solution approaches, in response to the time-consuming exact methods (LP, MIP). This paper aims to propose a Tabu list-based algorithm (TLBA) as an alternative to the Generic Materials and Operations Planning (GMOP) model. The algorithm considers a multi-level, multi-item planning structure. It is initialized using a lot-for-lot (LxL) method and candidate solutions are evaluated through an iterative Material Requirements Planning (MRP) procedure. Three different sizes of test instances are defined and better results are obtained in the large and medium-size problems, with minimum average gaps close to 10.5%.This paper shows the results of the project entitled "Algoritmo heuristico basado en listas tabu para la planificacion de la produccion en sistemas multinivel con listas de materiales alternativas y entornos de coproduccion" supported by Universidad de la Costa and Universitat Politecnica de Valencia.Romero-Conrado, AR.; Coronado-Hernandez, J.; Rius-Sorolla, G.; García Sabater, JP. (2019). A Tabu List-Based Algorithm for Capacitated Multilevel Lot-Sizing with Alternate Bills of Materials and Co-Production Environments. Applied Sciences. 9(7):1-17. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9071464S11797Karimi, B., Fatemi Ghomi, S. M. T., & Wilson, J. M. (2003). The capacitated lot sizing problem: a review of models and algorithms. Omega, 31(5), 365-378. doi:10.1016/s0305-0483(03)00059-8Martí, R., & Reinelt, G. (2010). Heuristic Methods. Applied Mathematical Sciences, 17-40. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16729-4_2Barany, I., Van Roy, T. J., & Wolsey, L. A. (1984). Strong Formulations for Multi-Item Capacitated Lot Sizing. Management Science, 30(10), 1255-1261. doi:10.1287/mnsc.30.10.1255Eppen, G. D., & Martin, R. K. (1987). Solving Multi-Item Capacitated Lot-Sizing Problems Using Variable Redefinition. Operations Research, 35(6), 832-848. doi:10.1287/opre.35.6.832Maes, J., McClain, J. O., & Van Wassenhove, L. N. (1991). Multilevel capacitated lotsizing complexity and LP-based heuristics. European Journal of Operational Research, 53(2), 131-148. doi:10.1016/0377-2217(91)90130-nBuschkühl, L., Sahling, F., Helber, S., & Tempelmeier, H. (2008). Dynamic capacitated lot-sizing problems: a classification and review of solution approaches. OR Spectrum, 32(2), 231-261. doi:10.1007/s00291-008-0150-7Drexl, A., & Kimms, A. (1997). Lot sizing and scheduling — Survey and extensions. European Journal of Operational Research, 99(2), 221-235. doi:10.1016/s0377-2217(97)00030-1Glock, C. H., Grosse, E. H., & Ries, J. M. (2014). The lot sizing problem: A tertiary study. International Journal of Production Economics, 155, 39-51. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2013.12.009KUIK, R., SALOMON, M., VAN WASSENHOVE, L. N., & MAES, J. (1993). LINEAR PROGRAMMING, SIMULATED ANNEALING AND TABU SEARCH HEURISTICS FOR LOTSIZING IN BOTTLENECK ASSEMBLY SYSTEMS. IIE Transactions, 25(1), 62-72. doi:10.1080/07408179308964266Standard Price List—AMPLhttps://ampl.com/products/standard-price-list/Seeanner, F., Almada-Lobo, B., & Meyr, H. (2013). Combining the principles of variable neighborhood decomposition search and the fix&optimize heuristic to solve multi-level lot-sizing and scheduling problems. Computers & Operations Research, 40(1), 303-317. doi:10.1016/j.cor.2012.07.002Hung, Y.-F., & Chien, K.-L. (2000). A multi-class multi-level capacitated lot sizing model. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 51(11), 1309-1318. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jors.2601026Kang, Y., Albey, E., & Uzsoy, R. (2018). Rounding heuristics for multiple product dynamic lot-sizing in the presence of queueing behavior. Computers & Operations Research, 100, 54-65. doi:10.1016/j.cor.2018.07.019BERRETTA, R., FRANÇA, P. M., & ARMENTANO, V. A. (2005). METAHEURISTIC APPROACHES FOR THE MULTILEVEL RESOURCE-CONSTRAINED LOT-SIZING PROBLEM WITH SETUP AND LEAD TIMES. Asia-Pacific Journal of Operational Research, 22(02), 261-286. doi:10.1142/s0217595905000510KIMMS, A. (1996). Competitive methods for multi-level lot sizing and scheduling: tabu search and randomized regrets. International Journal of Production Research, 34(8), 2279-2298. doi:10.1080/00207549608905025Sabater, J. P. G., Maheut, J., & Garcia, J. A. M. (2013). A new formulation technique to model materials and operations planning: the generic materials and operations planning (GMOP) problem. European J. of Industrial Engineering, 7(2), 119. doi:10.1504/ejie.2013.052572Maheut, J., & Sabater, J. P. G. (2013). Algorithm for complete enumeration based on a stroke graph to solve the supply network configuration and operations scheduling problem. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, 6(3). doi:10.3926/jiem.550Rius-Sorolla, G., Maheut, J., Coronado-Hernandez, J. R., & Garcia-Sabater, J. P. (2018). Lagrangian relaxation of the generic materials and operations planning model. Central European Journal of Operations Research, 28(1), 105-123. doi:10.1007/s10100-018-0593-0Maheut, J., Garcia-Sabater, J. P., & Mula, J. (2012). The Generic Materials and Operations Planning (GMOP) Problem Solved Iteratively: A Case Study in Multi-site Context. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, 66-73. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-33980-6_8Maheut, J. P. D. (s. f.). Modelos y Algoritmos Basados en el Concepto Stroke para la Planificación y Programación de Operaciones con Alternativas en Redes de Suministro. doi:10.4995/thesis/10251/29290Glover, F. (1989). Tabu Search—Part I. ORSA Journal on Computing, 1(3), 190-206. doi:10.1287/ijoc.1.3.190Glover, F., Taillard, E., & Taillard, E. (1993). A user’s guide to tabu search. Annals of Operations Research, 41(1), 1-28. doi:10.1007/bf02078647Chelouah, R., & Siarry, P. (2000). Tabu Search applied to global optimization. European Journal of Operational Research, 123(2), 256-270. doi:10.1016/s0377-2217(99)00255-6Raza, S. A., Akgunduz, A., & Chen, M. Y. (2006). A tabu search algorithm for solving economic lot scheduling problem. Journal of Heuristics, 12(6), 413-426. doi:10.1007/s10732-006-6017-7Cesaret, B., Oğuz, C., & Sibel Salman, F. (2012). A tabu search algorithm for order acceptance and scheduling. Computers & Operations Research, 39(6), 1197-1205. doi:10.1016/j.cor.2010.09.018Li, X., Baki, F., Tian, P., & Chaouch, B. A. (2014). A robust block-chain based tabu search algorithm for the dynamic lot sizing problem with product returns and remanufacturing. Omega, 42(1), 75-87. doi:10.1016/j.omega.2013.03.003Li, J., & Pan, Q. (2015). Solving the large-scale hybrid flow shop scheduling problem with limited buffers by a hybrid artificial bee colony algorithm. Information Sciences, 316, 487-502. doi:10.1016/j.ins.2014.10.009Hindi, K. S. (1995). Solving the single-item, capacitated dynamic lot-sizing problem with startup and reservation costs by tabu search. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 28(4), 701-707. doi:10.1016/0360-8352(95)00027-xHindi, K. S. (1996). Solving the CLSP by a Tabu Search Heuristic. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 47(1), 151-161. doi:10.1057/jors.1996.13Gopalakrishnan, M., Ding, K., Bourjolly, J.-M., & Mohan, S. (2001). A Tabu-Search Heuristic for the Capacitated Lot-Sizing Problem with Set-up Carryover. Management Science, 47(6), 851-863. doi:10.1287/mnsc.47.6.851.9813Glover, F. (1990). Tabu Search—Part II. ORSA Journal on Computing, 2(1), 4-32. doi:10.1287/ijoc.2.1.4Overview for Create General Full Factorial Designhttps://support.minitab.com/en-us/minitab/18/help-and-how-to/modeling-statistics/doe/how-to/factorial/create-factorial-design/create-general-full-factorial/before-you-start/overview/Perttunen, J. (1994). On the Significance of the Initial Solution in Travelling Salesman Heuristics. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 45(10), 1131-1140. doi:10.1057/jors.1994.183Elaziz, M. A., & Mirjalili, S. (2019). A hyper-heuristic for improving the initial population of whale optimization algorithm. Knowledge-Based Systems, 172, 42-63. doi:10.1016/j.knosys.2019.02.010Chen, C.-F., Wu, M.-C., & Lin, K.-H. (2013). Effect of solution representations on Tabu search in scheduling applications. Computers & Operations Research, 40(12), 2817-2825. doi:10.1016/j.cor.2013.06.003Tabu List Based Algorithm Datasetshttps://github.com/alfonsoromeroc/tlba-gmo

Intelligent design of manufacturing systems.

The design of a manufacturing system is normally performed in two distinct stages, i.e. steady state design and dynamic state design. Within each system design stage a variety of decisions need to be made of which essential ones are the determination of the product range to be manufactured, the layout of equipment on the shopfloor, allocation of work tasks to workstations, planning of aggregate capacity requirements and determining the lot sizes to be processed. This research work has examined the individual problem areas listed above in order to identify the efficiency of current solution techniques and to determine the problems experienced with their use. It has been identified that for each design problem. although there are an assortment of solution techniques available, the majority of these techniques are unable to generate optimal or near optimal solutions to problems of a practical size. In addition, a variety of limitations have been identified that restrict the use of existing techniques. For example, existing methods are limited with respect to the external conditions over which they are applicable and/or cannot enable qualitative or subjective judgements of experienced personnel to influence solution outcomes. An investigation of optimization techniques has been carried out which indicated that genetic algorithms offer great potential in solving the variety of problem areas involved in manufacturing systems design. This research has, therefore, concentrated on testing the use of genetic algorithms to make individual manufacturing design decisions. In particular, the ability of genetic algorithms to generate better solutions than existing techniques has been examined and their ability to overcome the range of limitations that exist with current solution techniques. IIFor each problem area, a typical solution has been coded in terms of a genetic algorithm structure, a suitable objective function constructed and experiments performed to identify the most suitable operators and operator parameter values to use. The best solution generated using these parameters has then been compared with the solution derived using a traditional solution technique. In addition, from the range of experiments undertaken the underlying relationships have been identified between problem characteristics and optimality of operator types and parameter values. The results of the research have identified that genetic algorithms could provide an improved solution technique for all manufacturing design decision areas investigated. In most areas genetic algorithms identified lower cost solutions and overcame many of the limitations of existing techniques

Integrated Production Planning and Scheduling Optimization

Este trabalho propõe um método de solução iterativa para abordar a integração do planeamento táctico (dimensionamento de lotes) e operacional (sequenciamento) numa produção industrial com setups dependentes da sequencia. Este método quebra o problema da integração em dois. No primeiro sub-problema do planeamento táctico, o plano de produção é optimizado sem ter em conta setups necessários. O sequenciamento dos produtos é depois definido usando estratégias de pesquisa local que irão conceber regras para complementarem o primeiro sub-problema. De seguida, o planeamento táctico é repetido, considerando as novas regras definidas anteriormente. O algoritmo continua iterativamente até que as funções objectivo dos dois níveis convirjam. De modo a analisar resultados obtidos, dois experimentos computacionais são propostos. O primeiro para comparar o método iterativo com outros métodos de solução encontrados na literatura para problemas similares, nomeadamente meta-heuristicas e modelos MIP. Por fim, a investigação foi focada num caso de uma indústria de nutrição animal, onde o setup de produção é dependente da sequência e normalmente não-triangular, podendo produtos evitarem limpeza se produzidos entre outros dois que de outro modo necessitariam de setup. O propósito do segundo experimento é avaliar os eventuais ganhos a uma abordagem hierárquica usualmente usada nesta indústria.This work proposes an iterative solution method to address the integration of the tactical (lot-sizing) and operational (scheduling) levels in production planning with sequence dependent setups. This method breaks the integrated lot-sizing and scheduling problem into two. In the first sub-problem, at the tactical level, the production plan is optimized with production setups disregarded. The production scheduling solution is then defined using local search strategies that will also construct rules for the tactical level. After that, the tactical level is optimized again, considering the rules defined from the operational level. The algorithm continues iteratively until objective functions from both levels converge. In order to analyse results, two computational experiments are proposed. The first is performed to compare the solution method proposed with mixed-integer programming models and meta-heuristics from the literature. Then the research will focus on an animal-feed industry case, in which production setup is sequence dependent and usually presents non-triangular setups, so products can avoid cleaning setups if produced between two products that otherwise would require a setup. The purpose of the second experiment is to evaluate the potential gains to a hierarchical approach usually used in this industry

Meta-heuristic & hyper-heuristic scheduling tools for biopharmaceutical production

The manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals requires substantial investments and necessitates long-term planning. Complicating the task of determining optimal production plans are large portfolios of products and facilities which limit the tractability of exact solution methods, and uncertainties & stochastic events which often render plans obsolete when reality deviates from the expectation. This thesis therefore describes decisional tools that are able to cope with these complexities. First, a capacity planning problem for a network of facilities and multiple products was tackled. Inspired by meta-heuristic approaches to job shop scheduling, a tailored construction heuristic that builds a production plan based on a sequence — optimised by a genetic algorithm—of product demands was proposed. Comparisons to a mathematical programming model demonstrated its competitiveness on certain scenarios and its applicability to a multi-objective problem. Next, a custom object-oriented model was introduced for a manufacturing scheduling system that utilised a failure-prone perfusion-based bioprocess. With this, process design decisions such as cell culture run time and process configuration, and single-product facility scheduling strategies were evaluated whilst incorporating simulations of stochastic failure events and uncertain demand. This model was then incorporated into a larger hyper-heuristic to determine optimal scheduling policies for a multi-product problem. Various policy representations are tested and a few policies are adapted from the literature to fit this specific problem. In addition, a novel policy utilising a look-ahead heuristic is proposed. The benefit of parameter tuning using evolutionary algorithms is demonstrated and shows that tuned policies perform much better than a policy that estimates parameters based on service level considerations. In addition, the disadvantages of relying on a fixed or rigid production sequence policy in the face of uncertainty is highlighted

A survey of AI in operations management from 2005 to 2009

Purpose: the use of AI for operations management, with its ability to evolve solutions, handle uncertainty and perform optimisation continues to be a major field of research. The growing body of publications over the last two decades means that it can be difficult to keep track of what has been done previously, what has worked, and what really needs to be addressed. Hence this paper presents a survey of the use of AI in operations management aimed at presenting the key research themes, trends and directions of research. Design/methodology/approach: the paper builds upon our previous survey of this field which was carried out for the ten-year period 1995-2004. Like the previous survey, it uses Elsevier’s Science Direct database as a source. The framework and methodology adopted for the survey is kept as similar as possible to enable continuity and comparison of trends. Thus, the application categories adopted are: design; scheduling; process planning and control; and quality, maintenance and fault diagnosis. Research on utilising neural networks, case-based reasoning (CBR), fuzzy logic (FL), knowledge-Based systems (KBS), data mining, and hybrid AI in the four application areas are identified. Findings: the survey categorises over 1,400 papers, identifying the uses of AI in the four categories of operations management and concludes with an analysis of the trends, gaps and directions for future research. The findings include: the trends for design and scheduling show a dramatic increase in the use of genetic algorithms since 2003 that reflect recognition of their success in these areas; there is a significant decline in research on use of KBS, reflecting their transition into practice; there is an increasing trend in the use of FL in quality, maintenance and fault diagnosis; and there are surprising gaps in the use of CBR and hybrid methods in operations management that offer opportunities for future research. Design/methodology/approach: the paper builds upon our previous survey of this field which was carried out for the 10 year period 1995 to 2004 (Kobbacy et al. 2007). Like the previous survey, it uses the Elsevier’s ScienceDirect database as a source. The framework and methodology adopted for the survey is kept as similar as possible to enable continuity and comparison of trends. Thus the application categories adopted are: (a) design, (b) scheduling, (c) process planning and control and (d) quality, maintenance and fault diagnosis. Research on utilising neural networks, case based reasoning, fuzzy logic, knowledge based systems, data mining, and hybrid AI in the four application areas are identified. Findings: The survey categorises over 1400 papers, identifying the uses of AI in the four categories of operations management and concludes with an analysis of the trends, gaps and directions for future research. The findings include: (a) The trends for Design and Scheduling show a dramatic increase in the use of GAs since 2003-04 that reflect recognition of their success in these areas, (b) A significant decline in research on use of KBS, reflecting their transition into practice, (c) an increasing trend in the use of fuzzy logic in Quality, Maintenance and Fault Diagnosis, (d) surprising gaps in the use of CBR and hybrid methods in operations management that offer opportunities for future research. Originality/value: This is the largest and most comprehensive study to classify research on the use of AI in operations management to date. The survey and trends identified provide a useful reference point and directions for future research