Article ID: | iaor20023203 |
Country: | Netherlands |
Volume: | 107 |
Issue: | 1 |
Start Page Number: | 15 |
End Page Number: | 32 |
Publication Date: | Oct 2001 |
Journal: | Annals of Operations Research |
Authors: | Agnetis A., Pacciarelli D., Meloni C., Detti P. |
Keywords: | supply chain |
In the material flow of a plant, parts are processed in batches, each having two distinct attributes, say shape and color. In one department, a set-up occurs every time the shape of the new batch is different from the previous one. In a downstream department, there is a set-up when the color of the new batch is different from the previous one. Since a unique sequence of batches must be established, the problem consists in finding such a common sequence optimizing an overall utility index. Here we consider two indices, namely the total number of set-ups and the maximum number of set-ups between the two departments. Both problems are shown to be NP-hard. An efficient heuristic approach is presented for the first index which allows to solve a set of real-life instances and performs satisfactorily on a large sample of experimental data.