Material requirements planning with a novel lot sizing method and a new algorithm for production scheduling.

Area of Science:

• Operations Research
• Manufacturing Systems Engineering
• Supply Chain Management

Background:

• Material costs constitute over 60% of total production expenses in manufacturing.
• Existing lot sizing methods often lack feasibility or rely on unidentifiable financial parameters like holding and setup costs.
• Effective inventory control is crucial for managing material costs and ensuring timely availability of resources.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the limitations of current lot sizing techniques in Material Requirements Planning (MRP).
• To develop a new lot sizing method incorporating batch size and supplier minimum order quantity.
• To design an integrated production scheduling algorithm for multi-line manufacturing systems.

Main Methods:

• A novel lot sizing methodology was developed, integrating batch size and minimum order quantity.
• A new production scheduling algorithm was designed for the Master Production Schedule component.
• The proposed methods were programmed and integrated into a Material Requirements Planning module within a Supply Chain Management system.

Main Results:

• The developed lot sizing method provides a more feasible and operational solution compared to previous approaches.
• The integrated production scheduling algorithm enhances the efficiency of manufacturing systems with multiple production lines and products.
• The new Material Requirements Planning module effectively manages inventory and production scheduling.

Conclusions:

• The proposed lot sizing method and production scheduling algorithm offer significant improvements for manufacturing systems.
• This research contributes a practical solution to optimize inventory control and reduce material-related costs.
• The developed MRP module enhances Supply Chain Management capabilities by providing better planning and execution.