A branch and bound procedure for setup problems in flexible manufacturing systems

The authors address a medium- to short-term production planning problem in a flexible manufacturing environment. First they present a single-machine, mixed integer programming model for part type selection and lot-sizing problems over a T-period planning horizon. Demand for part types changes dynamically through the periods. The objective is to meet the demand for part types during the periods they are demanded. Available machine time and tool magazine capacities are the system constraints in the present models. The authors next extend on the single-machine model to include multiple machines. In addition to part type selection and lot-sizing decisions, the extended model also addresses the machine-loading decision. The authors present exact branch and bound procedures based on linear programming relaxations for the two models. They also report the results of the present computational experiments.