Optimal batch scheduling of a multiproduct dairy process using a combined optimization/constraint programming approach

Abstract This paper presents the optimal batch scheduling of a multi-product dairy process using an approach that combines optimization and constraint programming techniques. A suitable model describing the subprocesses and production rules is developed allowing to obtain scheduling constraints relating the production process and the machines available together with their relative efficiencies. After the scheduling problem has been formulated, the batch scheduling of a real powder milk/yogurt process is obtained in an optimal manner using the proposed approach with the objective of meeting customers’ deadlines considering the efficiencies/costs of available alternative machines. Results using real consumer orders on some representative scenarios corresponding to the dairy production plant used as a case study are provided. This application shows a formulation closer to the engineering problem description thanks to the constraint-based language that facilitates the adaptation of the optimization objectives and constraints to real applications.

[1]  Peter J. Stuckey,et al.  Programming with Constraints: An Introduction , 1998 .

[2]  Haralambos Sarimveis,et al.  Optimal scheduling in a yogurt production line based on mixed integer linear programming , 2007 .

[3]  Philippe Laborie,et al.  IBM ILOG CP Optimizer for Detailed Scheduling Illustrated on Three Problems , 2009, CPAIOR.

[4]  Bilge Bilgen,et al.  Multi-bucket optimization for integrated planning and scheduling in the perishable dairy supply chain , 2015, Comput. Chem. Eng..

[5]  Bilge Bilgen,et al.  Quantitative models for supply chain management within dairy industry: a review and discussion , 2015 .

[6]  Bilge Bilgen,et al.  Multistage Production Planning in the Dairy Industry: A Mixed-Integer Programming Approach , 2015 .

[7]  Gabriela P. Henning,et al.  A CP formulation for scheduling multiproduct multistage batch plants , 2011, Comput. Chem. Eng..

[8]  Pascal Van Hentenryck.  The OPL optimization programming language , 1999 .

[9]  Kalyanmoy Deb,et al.  Multi-objective Optimization , 2014 .

[10]  Pedro M. Castro,et al.  Scope for industrial applications of production scheduling models and solution methods , 2014, Comput. Chem. Eng..

[11]  Satoshi Yoshida,et al.  Project scheduling under partially renewable resources and resource consumption during setup operations , 2015, Comput. Ind. Eng..

[12]  Weihang Zhu,et al.  Multi-week MILP scheduling for an ice cream processing facility , 2016, Comput. Chem. Eng..

[13]  John W. Fowler,et al.  Constraint Programming Approach for Scheduling Jobs With Release Times, Non-Identical Sizes, and Incompatible Families on Parallel Batching Machines , 2017, IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing.

[14]  Ezra Wari,et al.  A survey on metaheuristics for optimization in food manufacturing industry , 2016, Appl. Soft Comput..

[15]  Christopher L.E. Swartz,et al.  Industrial Application of a Continuous-Time Scheduling Framework for Process Analysis and Improvement , 2014 .

[16]  J. Impe,et al.  Explicit weight selection procedure for optimal control problems with weighted objectives , 2011 .

[17]  Vladik Kreinovich,et al.  Constraint Programming and Decision Making: Theory and Applications , 2018 .

[18]  Dilip Datta,et al.  Multi-objective optimization of the scheduling of a heat exchanger network under milk fouling , 2017, Knowl. Based Syst..

[19]  Gabriela P. Henning,et al.  A novel constraint programming model for large-scale scheduling problems in multiproduct multistage batch plants: Limited resources and campaign-based operation , 2016, Comput. Chem. Eng..

[20]  Luis Puigjaner,et al.  Resource-constrained production planning in semicontinuous food industries , 2011, Comput. Chem. Eng..

[21]  Andy Ham,et al.  Flexible job shop scheduling problem with parallel batch processing machine , 2016, 2016 Winter Simulation Conference (WSC).

[22]  Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos,et al.  Reactive Scheduling for the Coordination of Energy Supply and Demand Management in Microgrids , 2014 .

[23]  J. Christopher Beck,et al.  Mixed Integer Programming models for job shop scheduling: A computational analysis , 2016, Comput. Oper. Res..