A branch-and-fathom algorithm for the long range process design problem

Several problems, including the long-range process design problem, have been formulated as a compatibility matrix. Earlier, Singhal et al. proposed a partial enumeration algorithm which found all feasible designs and reported computational results. However, for large problems, the partial enumeration algorithm requires an excessive amount of computational effort to locate all feasible designs. This paper presents a branch and fathom algorithm which is more efficient than the partial enumeration algorithm, and which significantly reduces the computational effort necessary to identify all feasible designs.