Disaggregate Planning For Parallel Processors

Successful aggregate planning and effective production scheduling both rely heavily upon the availability of sound disaggregation procedures. This paper describes a large scale mathematical program that translates long range plans into operational assignments of labor, production and inventory among competing products and processes. The standard lot sizing problem, characterized by marginal tradeoffs between holding costs and setup costs, is constrained further as multiple processors compete for efficient assignments to individual products. The model's application in a major manufacturing corporation is described.