Multi-Objective Mathematical Optimization in Assisted Production Planning

In today's fast-paced technological landscape, products are constantly evolving, and mass customization is providing customers with personalized goods. However, despite these advancements, production planning processes in manufacturing companies are still predominantly manual and time-consuming. The need for increased efficiency in planning becomes crucial as the frequency of production planning activities rises due to shorter time-to-market and higher product variance. Addressing the complex challenge of line balancing, the article highlights the limitations of manual planning in Excel and advocates for the application of Operations Research (OR) methods through a novel research approach. The proposed methodology aims to use multi-objective mathematical optimization to systematically find solutions for Assembly Line Design (ALD), providing a more efficient alternative to traditional manual planning with the ability to quantitatively compare various optimization criteria. This work thus provides an essential basis for the optimization of a complex closed-loop factory, as planning in remanufacturing considers uncertainties with constant reconfiguration.