A multi-objective model for inventory and planned production reassignment to committed orders with homogeneity requirements

[EN] Certain industries are characterized by obtaining non-homogeneous units of the same product. However, customers require homogeneity in some attributes between units of the same and different products requesting in their orders. To commit such orders, an estimation of the homogeneous product to be obtained can be used. Unfortunately, estimations of homogenous product quantities can differ considerably from real distributions. This fact could entail the impossibility of accomplishing the delivery of customer orders in the terms previously committed. To solve this, we propose a multi-objective mathematical programming model to reallocate already available homogeneous products in stock and planned production to committed orders. The main contributions of this model are the consideration of the homogeneity requirement between units of different lines of the same order, the allowance of partial deliveries of order lines, and the specification of some relevant attributes of products to accomplish with the customer homogeneity requirement. Different hypotheses are proved through experiments and statistical analyses applied to a ceramic tile company. The epsilon-constraint method is used to obtain an implementable solution for the company. The weighted sum method is used when proving other hypotheses that offer some managerial insights to companies.This work was supported by the Program of Formation of University Professors (FPU) of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (FPU15/03595), and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness Project DPI2011-23597.Esteso, A.; Alemany Díaz, MDM.; Ortiz Bas, Á.; Peidro Payá, D. (2018). A multi-objective model for inventory and planned production reassignment to committed orders with homogeneity requirements. Computers & Industrial Engineering. 124:180-194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2018.07.025S18019412

Improving supply chain performance to satisfy final customers: "Leagile" experiences of a polish distributor

Mass, lean and agile production philosophies, although widely discussed, still cause considerable confusion both among academics and in practice. De Haan and Overbooms' characterizations of lean (what, when needed but perfect) and agile (first, fast and best) show the paradigmatic differences between the two. When applied in a case study in Poland on a distributor of lifestyle oriented fast moving consumer goods, established after the transition, it appeared that these characterizations enabled a proper description and analysis. During the volatile period (1996-2002) an agile approach provided the flexibility and competitiveness needed. However, when the market matured the overly expensive agility caused last minute crisis. Then a lean approach enabled the optimization of processes needed to supply customer in a more reliable way. Both approaches stress different aspects but have quite a few tools in common. The paper does not try to answer the question whether one approach could outperform the other but indicates when one concept could be more useful than the other.Lean supply chains Agile supply chains Leagility