A heuristic disaggregation and scheduling algorithm for hierarchical production planning systems

A hierarchical production planning (HPP) model is developed that integrates aggregate type decisions, family disaggregate decisions, and detailed production activity control (PAC) decisions. Incorporation of a simple heuristic scheduling algorithm in PAC is the primary contribution of the paper. The algorithm schedules the jobs based on just-in-time (JIT) concept and provides detailed shop floor information such as job tardiness, bottleneck work centers, inventory level, shortage level, number of set-ups and capacity status. This information is extremely useful for revising future production plans. Experimental results show that the HPP model with a PAC module performs better than the model without PAC. This is especially true under unstable demand and tight capacity constraints.