Optimal production planning for workshops with demand constraints

The paper explores the problem of optimal production planning in flexible automated workshops (FAWs) under the condition of demand being just satisfied. A nonlinear programming model of production planning with demand constraints is built up and then transformed into a linear programming model by adding constraints. Because the scale of the model for a general workshop is too large to be solved by the simplex method on a microcomputer within acceptable time, Karmarkar's algorithm and an interaction/prediction algorithm are used to solve the model, on the basis of which the programs described herein have been written. Through production planning examples, The Karmarkar's algorithm, interaction/prediction algorithm and linear programming method in Matlab are compared, thus showing that the proposed approaches are very suitable for decomposing optimally medium-term plans (assigned to an FAW by ERP/MRP II) into short-term plans (to be executed by FMSs in the FAW).