An optimization tool for production planning: A case study in a textile industry

Abstract

The textile industry is an important sector of the Brazilian economy, being considered the fifth largest textile industry in the world. To support further growth and development in this sector, this document proposes a process for production analysis through the use of Discrete Event Simulation (DES) and optimization through genetic algorithms. The focus is on production planning for weaving processes and optimization to help make decisions about batch sizing and production scheduling activities. In addition, the correlations between some current technological trends and their implications for the textile industry are also highlighted. Another important contribution of this study is to detail the use of the commercial software Tecnomatix Plant Simulation 13®, to simulate and optimize a production problem by applying genetic algorithms with real production data.