An integer programming approach for Balancing and Scheduling in Extended Manufacturing Environment

In the fiercely competitive era induced by expansion of open business archetypes, the managerial aspects of Extended Manufacturing Environments (EMEs) are experiencing growing concerns. There is no scope of leaving a possible operational improvement unexplored. For enhanced operational efficiency and capacity utilization the balancing and scheduling problems of EMEs are, therefore, rightfully considered and an integer programme is proposed in this paper. The model is designed in a spread sheet and solved through What'sBest optimizer. The model capabilities is assessed through a test problem. The results have demonstrated that the model is capable of defining optimized production schedules for EMEs.This study has been conducted under FRGS project (FRGS14- 102-0343) funded by Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), Malaysia. The authors are grateful to MOHE and Research Management Centre (RMC), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) for their support.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mixed Integer Programming Approaches to Planning and Scheduling in Electronics Supply Chains

This paper discusses mixed integer programming (MIP) approaches to planning and scheduling in electronics supply chains. First, the short-term detailed scheduling of wafer fabrication in semiconductor manufacturing and detailed scheduling of printed wiring boards assembly in surface mount technology lines are discussed. Then, the medium-term aggregate production planning in a production/assembly facility of consumer electronics supply chain is described, and finally coordinated aggregate planning and scheduling of manufacturing and supply of parts and production of finished products is presented. The decision variables are defined and MIP modelling frameworks provided. The two decision-making approaches are discussed and compared: integrated (simultaneous) approach, in which all required decisions are made simultaneously using a complex, large monolithic MIP model; and hierarchical (sequential) approach, in which the required decisions are made successively, using hierarchies of simpler and smaller-size MIP models. The paper highlights also the research on stochastic MIP applications to planning and scheduling in electronics supply chains with disrupted material and information flows due to natural or man-made disasters

Computing infrastructure issues in distributed communications systems : a survey of operating system transport system architectures

The performance of distributed applications (such as file transfer, remote login, tele-conferencing, full-motion video, and scientific visualization) is influenced by several factors that interact in complex ways. In particular, application performance is significantly affected both by communication infrastructure factors and computing infrastructure factors. Several communication infrastructure factors include channel speed, bit-error rate, and congestion at intermediate switching nodes. Computing infrastructure factors include (among other things) both protocol processing activities (such as connection management, flow control, error detection, and retransmission) and general operating system factors (such as memory latency, CPU speed, interrupt and context switching overhead, process architecture, and message buffering). Due to a several orders of magnitude increase in network channel speed and an increase in application diversity, performance bottlenecks are shifting from the network factors to the transport system factors.This paper defines an abstraction called an "Operating System Transport System Architecture" (OSTSA) that is used to classify the major components and services in the computing infrastructure. End-to-end network protocols such as TCP, TP4, VMTP, XTP, and Delta-t typically run on general-purpose computers, where they utilize various operating system resources such as processors, virtual memory, and network controllers. The OSTSA provides services that integrate these resources to support distributed applications running on local and wide area networks.A taxonomy is presented to evaluate OSTSAs in terms of their support for protocol processing activities. We use this taxonomy to compare and contrast five general-purpose commercial and experimental operating systems including System V UNIX, BSD UNIX, the x-kernel, Choices, and Xinu

Comparative Study Between Mixed Model Assembly Line And Flexible Assembly Line Based On Cost Minimization Approach [TS167. F278 2008 f rb].

Mixed Model Assembly Line are widely used to produce different models as per customer's demands. Barisan Penggabungan Model Campuran digunakan secara meluas untuk menghasilkan model-model yang berbeza mengikut kehendak pelanggan

Comparative Study Between Mixed Model Assembly Line And Flexible Assembly Line Based On Cost Minimization Approach [TS167. F278 2008 f rb].

Mixed Model Assembly Line are widely used to produce different models as per customer's demands. Barisan Penggabungan Model Campuran digunakan secara meluas untuk menghasilkan model-model yang berbeza mengikut kehendak pelanggan

Manufacturing Technology Today

Manufacturing Technology Today, Manufacturing Technology Abstracts, Vol. 14, No. 4, September 2015, Bangalore, India

Optimizing Modular Machining Line Design Problem with Mixed Activation Mode of Machining Units

A modular transfer line designing problem is investigated. The problem is to find the best subset of modules (machining units) from a given set and to assign them to different stations so that technological constraints and cycle upper limit are respected and the line cost is minimal. The investigated lines have a mixed activation mode for the machining units of each station, i.e. the units of each station are arranged into a series of stages such that each stage is composed of several units activated in parallel. A mixed integer program approach is proposed to model and solve the corresponding design problem. Improvements are suggested in order to reduce the model size and speed up the computations

Balancing and Sequencing of Mixed Model Assembly Lines

Assembly lines are cost efficient production systems that mass produce identical products. Due to customer demand, manufacturers use mixed model assembly lines to produce customized products that are not identical. To stay efficient, management decisions for the line such as number of workers and assembly task assignment to stations need to be optimized to increase throughput and decrease cost. In each station, the work to be done depends on the exact product configuration, and is not consistent across all products. In this dissertation, a mixed model line balancing integer program (IP) that considers parallel workers, zoning, task assignment, and ergonomic constraints with the objective of minimizing the number of workers is proposed. Upon observing the limitation of the IP, a Constraint Programming (CP) model that is based on CPLEX CP Optimizer is developed to solve larger assembly line balancing problems. Data from an automotive OEM are used to assess the performance of both the MIP and CP models. Using the OEM data, we show that the CP model outperforms the IP model for bigger problems. A sensitivity analysis is done to assess the cost of enforcing some of the constraint on the computation complexity and the amount of violations to these constraints once they are disabled. Results show that some of the constraints are helpful in reducing the computation time. Specifically, the assignment constraints in which decision variables are fixed or bounded result in a smaller search space. Finally, since the line balance for mixed model is based on task duration averages, we propose a mixed model sequencing model that minimize the number of overload situation that might occur due to variability in tasks times by providing an optimal production sequence. We consider the skip-policy to manage overload situations and allow interactions between stations via workers swimming. An IP model formulation is proposed and a GRASP solution heuristic is developed to solve the problem. Data from the literature are used to assess the performance of the developed heuristic and to show the benefit of swimming in reducing work overload situations