OPTIMIZATION OF SCHEDULES FOR A MULTITASK PRODUCTION CELL

Purpose of this paper To optimize production schedules of a real production cell containing multi-purpose machines working as a job-shop in a complex logistic environment producing aircraft engine components. The planning and control of the production in the so called multitask cell results in a complex combinatorial problem. Design/methodology/approach A mathematical optimization model of the multitask cell has been developed and tested on real data instances. The current production planning prerequisites have been studied in order to choose an appropriate objective function. Findings Production plans resulting from the optimization model, are compared with schedules formed by the First in First Out (FIFO) and Earliest Due Date (EDD) priority rules, which are similar to the current manual planning of the multitask cell. Practical implication