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Hybrid heuristics for planning lot setups and sizes

Clark, Alistair

Authors

Alistair Clark



Abstract

The planning of a canning line at a drinks manufacturer is discussed and formulated as a mathematical programming model. Several alternative heuristic solution methods are developed, tested and compared on real data, illustrating the trade-offs between solution quality and computing time. The two most successful methods make hybrid use of local search and integer programming, but in rather different ways. The first method searches for the best proportion by which to factor setup times into unit production times. The second method carries out a local search on the first stage's binary setup variables. In both methods approximate mixed integer programming models are solved at each search iteration. In addition, a local search variant, called diminishing neighbourhood search, is used in order to avoid local optima in a variety of landscapes. Computational tests analyse the quality/time trade-offs between alternative heuristics, enabling an efficient frontier of non-dominated solutions to be identified. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citation

Clark, A. (2003). Hybrid heuristics for planning lot setups and sizes. Computers and Industrial Engineering, 45(4), 545-562. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0360-8352%2803%2900073-1

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Dec 1, 2003
Journal Computers and Industrial Engineering
Print ISSN 0360-8352
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 45
Issue 4
Pages 545-562
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/S0360-8352%2803%2900073-1
Keywords production planning, lot sizing, setups, heuristics, optimisation, local search
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1066467
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0360-8352(03)00073-1