Multi-Item Lot Size Scheduling by Heuristic Part I: With Fixed Resources

The multi-item lot size problem has been a formal management issue for some decades. The lot size decision of how much to produce (and when) usually considers the trade-off between lost productivity from frequent set-ups and short runs and the higher inventory costs arising from longer runs. When the decision must also consider shared limited production resources, the problem becomes complex. The paper is presented in two parts. Part I outlines a heuristic for solving the multi-item lot size problem given fixed production resources. The problem is initially structured as a network of unlimited capacity. An arc-cutting criterion is suggested, successively paring the unconstrained lot size optimum in low-cost increments until a feasible integer solution occurs. In Part II of this 2 part paper, the heuristic is extended to include variable capacity constraints. Computational results for both the fixed and variable capacity configurations and the bibliography conclude the presentation.

• 저널Management Science · 21(10) · 1186–1193
• 토픽Scheduling and Optimization Algorithms · Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
• DOI10.1287/mnsc.21.10.1086
• 저자Elizabeth Newson