Modeling and visualization for a production planning decision support system

This paper describes the process of decision support systems development for the optimization of the aggregate production planning problem for an important manufacturer of applicances in Chile. This work is part of a more general research effort, whose purpose is to build a generator of software applications for logistic problems in industry, based on optimization models. The paper takes advantage of powerful tools and approaches for the modeling stage, and for building systems with user friendly interfaces and good data management capabilities. The production planning problem is formulated as a mixed integer programming model, which is solved using CPLEX. The system is currently being used by the company for their decision processes in manufacturing.