A Practical Production-Distribution Rescheduling Model with Conflict and Unexpected Disruptions

Abstract

The production-distribution rescheduling problem aims at coordinating separate plans made by producers and distributors to eliminate the effect of unexpected disruptions in practice. In this paper, we propose a rescheduling model that considers unexpected disruptions. Meanwhile, a conflict resolution strategy is also considered in the model since conflicts commonly exist among the respective plans made by producers and distributors. In the model, two aspects are considered. On one hand, we try to minimize the operation cost and penalty cost associated with the conflict resolution strategy. On the other hand, we expect to minimize the difference between the original plans and the rescheduled ones. A genetic algorithm (GA) is developed to solve this problem. A case study based on the largest integrated coal enterprise in China shows that once a certain unexpected disruption occurs, the most effective approach is to adjust the plans that consist of the output, transportation volume, and sales volume, which has strong relationships with the disruption. If the scale of the disruption is not excessive, the suggested model can neutralize the influence of the variation.