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USING SHORT‐TERM DEDICATION FOR SCHEDULING MULTIPLE PRODUCTS ON PARALLEL MACHINES

1992; Wiley; Volume: 1; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1937-5956.1992.tb00361.x

1937-5956

Gerard M. Campbell,

Optimization and Packing Problems

In a multiproduct, parallel machine environment, it may be beneficial to dedicate one or more of the machines to a single product for consecutive time periods. However, previous lot‐sizing and scheduling models usually do not allow for such short‐term dedication. This paper presents a mixed‐integer programming model that allows for short‐term dedication in scheduling parallel machines serving multiple products with dynamic demands. It also describes a Lagrangian‐based algorithm for solving such scheduling problems. An experiment verifies the effectiveness of the algorithm and demonstrates the importance of allowing for short‐term dedication. Capacity utilization, one of six factors investigated, greatly affects the use of dedication. A strong interaction effect between the number of machines and the number of products is also seen with respect to the usefulness of short‐term dedication. A measure of estimated production frequency incorporates these two factors along with magnitudes of periodic demands. This measure has a strong relationship with the amount of short‐term dedication used in solutions. Operations managers employing parallel machines could use the experimental results in deciding whether to use short‐term dedication to reduce costs.