An integrated fuzzy goal programming—theory of constraints model for production planning and optimization

Abstract

Manufacturing companies are under constant pressure to optimize the economic sustain-ability of their production systems. Production planning and optimization is a well-established strategy for considering resource constraints and improving economic productivity. This study proposes an integrated fuzzy goal planning and the theory of constraints for production planning and optimization. To this end, a hybrid Delphi–Buckley method was used to identify the relevant goals and a paired matrix questionnaire was used to determine the fuzzy weights of the goals. Furthermore, a fuzzy bottleneck detection algorithm was used to deal with the bottlenecks. A case study in the cable industry is presented to demonstrate the applicability and exhibit the efficiency of the proposed model. The results indicate that production planning in the cable industry could experience less deviation, almost 11% less, from the goals by applying the fuzzy goal programming under the theory of constraints, compared to the traditional method or crisp-goal programming.