Decision support subsystem for operations planning in the automotive industry

Abstract

In this paper, we describe a decision support subsystem that ensures the coordination between different integer programming models through an appropriate algorithm. The algorithm selects the most appropriate model, according to the information to be used during the time period under analysis. The solution given by the algorithm is translated into a set of cutting plans for different raw materials. The Master Production Plan distributes the products on demand, according to the customers’ orders, by the different days of the week. In the case of an activity related to the cutting of materials which are stored in rolls, it is necessary to cut the pieces of the referred materials beforehand, so that these can subsequently be put together by means of sewing work. There is a wide range of cutting plans available, which can be selected for cutting. These aspects are discussed in this paper, which ends with the presentation of computational experiments on real instances.