Production Optimization in a Grain Facility through Mixed-Integer Linear Programming †

Abstract

Featured Application: The methodology described in this article is applicable to production planning optimization problems with multiple products that can be processed in any of several production lines, including storage and limited shelf life constraints. This article introduces a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming model for cost optimization in multi-product multi-line production scheduling. This model considers discrete time windows and includes realistic constraints. The NP completeness of the problem is proven. A novel scheme based on embedding bounds is applied to speed up convergence. The model is tested on 16 input configurations of a real case study from the top Uruguayan grain production facility. The numerical results show that the model significantly improves the outcome of the current ad hoc heuristic planning, reducing on average 10% the overall production costs; and that the introduction of the embedded bounds-based scheme reduces significantly the elapsed time, on average by 22%.