ECCO 2024
Abstract Submission

72. The strategic assembly line feeding problem

Invited abstract in session FC-2: Logistics, stream Logistics.

Friday, 13:30 - 15:00
Room: M228

Authors (first author is the speaker)

1. Hannah Verplancke
Ghent University
2. Veronique Limère
Business Informatics and Operations Management, Ghent University
3. El-Houssaine Aghezzaf
Industrial Management, Ghent University
4. Emmanouil Thanos
Ghent University

Abstract

The Assembly Line Feeding Problem (ALFP) aims at efficiently transferring all required parts from the warehouse to the assembly line. Recently, the rapid raise of the numbers of required parts, resulting from the increasing demand for customised products, imposes great difficulties upon solving the ALFP.

Previous research mainly focused on the tactical decisions of the ALFP, such as the assignment of parts to vehicles and part feeding policies. However, tactical decisions must be taken with the strategic framework already in place. Strategic decisions are taken when a new production site is constructed and may not be frequently modified. Therefore, they critically affect the performance of the production facility in the long term.

In this work, we focus on the strategic ALFP decisions both dealing with the facility lay-out and the selection of adequate transport vehicles. Although they have been studied independently, academic studies rarely consider integrated approaches to combine them in one optimization model.

We propose a mixed-integer optimization model which assigns parts to feeding policies, locates preparation areas and assigns vehicles to each specific flow. The line feeding policies require preparation areas as well as space at the border of line and compete for the limited available space. Vehicle types and preparation areas induce investment and operating costs which must also be optimized. Some instances will be generated, and the results will be discussed.

Keywords

Status: accepted

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