An easy-to-read introduction to the concepts associated with the creation of optimization models for production planning starts off this book. These concepts are then applied to well-known planning models, namely mrp and MRP II. From this foundation, fairly sophisticated models for supply chain management are developed. Another unique feature is that models are developed with an eye toward implementation. In fact, there is a chapter that provides explicit examples of implementation of the basic models using a variety of popular, commercially available modeling languages.

This book presents a comprehensive overview of recent developments in production planning. The monograph begins with an introductory chapter reviewing the need for these production planning models, that operate by determining time-phased releases of work into the facility or supply chain, relating these to the Manufacturing Planning and Control (MPC) and Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) frameworks, that form the basis of most academic research and industrial practice. The extensive body of work on Workload Control is also placed in this context, and proves the need for improved models with a discussion of the difficulties, these approaches encounter. The next two chapters present a detailed review of the state of the art in optimization models based on exogenous planned lead times, and examines the cases where these can take both integer and fractional values. The difficulties arising in estimating planned lead times are consistent with factory behavior which are highlighted, noting that many of these lead to non-convex optimization models. Attempts to address these difficulties by iterative multimodel approaches, that combine simulation and mathematical programming, are also discussed in detail. The next three chapters of the volume address the set of techniques developed using clearing functions, which represent the expected output of a resource in a planning period, as a function of the expected workload of the resource, during that period. The chapters on this subject propose a basic optimization model for multiple products, discuss the difficulties of this model and some possible solutions. It also reviews prior work, and discuss a number of alternative formulations of the clearing function concept with their respective advantages and disadvantages. Applications to lot sizing decisions and a number of other specific problems are also described. This volume concludes with an assessment of the state of the art described in the volume, and several directions for future work.

This textbook provides a comprehensive modeling, reformulation and optimization approach for solving production planning and supply chain planning problems, covering topics from a basic introduction to planning systems, mixed integer programming (MIP) models and algorithms through the advanced description of mathematical results in polyhedral combinatorics required to solve these problems. Based on twenty years worth of research in which the authors have played a significant role, the book addresses real life industrial production planning problems (involving complex production structures with multiple production stages) using MIP modeling and reformulation approach. The book provides an introduction to MIP modeling and to planning systems, a unique collection of reformulation results, and an easy to use problem-solving library. This approach is demonstrated through a series of real life case studies, exercises and detailed illustrations. Review by Jakub Marecek (Computer Journal) The emphasis put on mixed integer rounding and mixing sets, heuristics in-built in general purpose integer programming solvers, as well as on decompositions and heuristics using integer programming should be praised... There is no doubt that this volume offers the present best introduction to integer programming formulations of lotsizing problems, encountered in production planning. (2007)

The Advanced Planner and Optimizer (APO) is the software from SAP dedicated to supply chain management. This book addresses the question how to implement APO in a company. It is written from a long years' experience in implementation projects and aims to provide project managers and team members with the necessary know how for a successful implementation project. The focus of the book lies in introducing modelling approaches and explaining the structure and interdependencies of systems, modules and entities of APO. Another concern is the integration with the R/3 system(s), both technically and from a process point of view. Since APO projects differ significantly from other SAP projects, some key issues and common mistakes concerning project management are pointed out as well.

In two volumes, Planning Production and Inventories in the Extended Enterprise: A State of the Art Handbook examines production planning across the extended enterprise against a backdrop of important gaps between theory and practice. The early chapters describe the multifaceted nature of production planning problems and reveal many of the core complexities. The middle chapters describe recent research on theoretical techniques to manage these complexities. Accounts of production planning system currently in use in various industries are included in the later chapters. Throughout the two volumes there are suggestions on promising directions for future work focused on closing the gaps. Included in Volume 1 are papers on the Historical Foundations of Manufacturing Planning and Control; Advanced Planning and Scheduling Systems; Sustainable Product Development and Manufacturing; Uncertainty and Production Planning; Demand Forecasting; Production Capacity; Data in Production and Supply Chain Planning; Financial Uncertainty in SC Models; Field Based Research in Production Control; Collaborative SCM; Sequencing and Coordination in Outsourcing and Subcontracting Operations; Inventory Management; Pricing, Variety and Inventory Decisions for Substitutable Items; Perishable and Aging Inventories; Optimization Models of Production Planning Problems; Aggregate Modeling of Manufacturing Systems; Robust Stability Analysis of Decentralized Supply Chains; Simulation in Production Planning; and Simulation-Optimization in Support of Tactical and Strategic Enterprise Decisions. Included in Volume 2 are papers on Workload and Lead-Time Considerations under Uncertainty; Production Planning and Scheduling; Production Planning Effects on Dynamic Behavior of A Simple Supply Chain; Supply and Demand in Assemble-to-Order Supply Chains; Quantitative Risk Assessment in Supply Chains; A Practical Multi-Echelon Inventory Model with Semiconductor Application; Supplier Managed Inventory for Custom Items with Long Lead Times; Decentralized Supply Chain Formation; A Cooperative Game Approach to Procurement Network Formation; Flexible SC Contracts with Options; Build-to-Order Meets Global Sourcing for the Auto Industry; Practical Modeling in Automotive Production; Discrete Event Simulation Models; Diagnosing and Tuning a Statistical Forecasting System; Enterprise-Wide SC Planning in Semiconductor and Package Operations; Production Planning in Plastics; SC Execution Using Predictive Control; Production Scheduling in The Pharmaceutical Industry; Computerized Scheduling for Continuous Casting in Steelmaking; and Multi-Model Production Planning and Scheduling in an Industrial Environment.

Generally speaking, scheduling is the procedure of mapping a set of tasks or jobs (studied objects) to a set of target resources efficiently. More specifically, as a part of a larger planning and scheduling process, production scheduling is essential for the proper functioning of a manufacturing enterprise. This book presents ten chapters divided into five sections. Section 1 discusses rescheduling strategies, policies, and methods for production scheduling. Section 2 presents two chapters about flow shop scheduling. Section 3 describes heuristic and metaheuristic methods for treating the scheduling problem in an efficient manner. In addition, two test cases are presented in Section 4. The first uses simulation, while the second shows a real implementation of a production scheduling system. Finally, Section 5 presents some modeling strategies for building production scheduling systems. This book will be of interest to those working in the decision-making branches of production, in various operational research areas, as well as computational methods design. People from a diverse background ranging from academia and research to those working in industry, can take advantage of this volume.