Mathematical programming for the design and analysis of a biologics facility

In this paper, we describe the use of mathematical programming methods for automated schedule generation. Our method creates production schedules that encompass all necessary process constraints and span a sufficiently large time scale to produce statistically meaningful results. We illustrate the approach using a new industrial biologics facility. In Part 1 of the article, we describe the process and results of the study. In Part 2, we will summarize the formulation, compare our approach to discrete event simulation, and discuss the algorithmic methods used to produce high quality production schedules. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]