Lot sizing and scheduling in the molded pulp packaging industry

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of production planning and scheduling in the pulp molded packaging industry, considering especially a Brazilian plant that produces molded packs for eggs and fruits. The production process involves utilizing some molding patterns through which the different products are produced. Thus, decisions related to the production planning and scheduling involve the choice of which molding pattern will be used, how long they will be used on each production line, and how they should be sequenced. For representing this problem, a mathematical model based on the General Lot Sizing and Scheduling Problem (GLSP) with sequence-dependent setup times and costs was proposed. Results show that the production plans obtained by the model is advantageous compared with the company plan, because it involves lower capacity consumption, lower total setup time, and better inventory control, besides reducing the total cost of the proposed plan in approximately 36%.

Keywords:
Production planning and scheduling; Molding patterns programming; Lot sizing; Molded pulp packaging industry