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Lot sizing and sequencing optimisation at an animal-feed plant

Toso, Eli Angela Vitor; Clark, Alistair; Morabito, Reinaldo

Authors

Eli Angela Vitor Toso

Alistair Clark

Reinaldo Morabito



Abstract

This paper studies a challenging case of joint lot sizing and scheduling in a manufacturing plant for animal feed compounds. A key characteristic of this industry is that certain products can perform a production line "cleaning" function if a sufficiently large lot is produced between two products that would otherwise require a cleaning setup. Thus the sequence-dependent setup times do not always obey the triangular inequality. A mixed integer programming model is applied and tested on multiple sets of real data from different seasons. The model takes too long to solve exactly and so alternative formulations and methods are developed to solve the model more quickly, based on two variants of the Relax and Fix heuristic. Test results demonstrate that the formulations are computationally effective and able to take economic advantage of the intermediate cleaning products. The model schedule substantially improves on that practiced at the plant and can be useful for similar companies in the animal-feed industry. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citation

Toso, E. A. V., Morabito, R., & Clark, A. (2009). Lot sizing and sequencing optimisation at an animal-feed plant. Computers and Industrial Engineering, 57(3), 813-821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2009.02.011

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Oct 1, 2009
Deposit Date Nov 2, 2010
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Computers and Industrial Engineering
Print ISSN 0360-8352
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 57
Issue 3
Pages 813-821
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2009.02.011
Keywords lot sizing and sequencing, sequence-dependent setup times, triangular inequality, relax and fix heuristic, animal feed production
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/992191
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2009.02.011