Tasks, hierarchies, and flexibility : planning in food processing industries

An everlasting trade-off in many industries is the one between efficiency and flexibility. In this thesis, we investigate how this trade-off is dealt with in the food processing industries. More specifically, we look at the way in which the flexibility of the production system is related to production planning. The research question of this thesis is: How can day-to-day planning in the Food Processing Industries contribute to flexibility?