Tehseen Aslam
School of Engineering Science
This project proposes the concept of multi-level and multi-objective optimization in order to both horizontally and vertically align the optimization objectives of various manufacturing levels. For example production and plant wide level, focusing on strategic and tactical manufacturing objectives.
When combining DES with optimization technology, and multi objective optimization in particular, valuable decision support information for production lines can be retrieved. However, these decisions and managers who make these decisions are dispersed over different levels, e.g. line, plant or supply chain level with strategic, tactical and operational decision perspectives. Hence, the governing of different subsystems in a manufacturing organization requires several managing decisions at different levels of the organization as well as coordination among the processes on the same level.
Research for operational decision support, that is production line level, has successfully been implemented however research strategic and tactical decision support using simulation based multi objective optimization on a plant wide and/or supply chain level has been scarce.
One of the most important aims of any manufacturing value chain is to align and combine many objectives, that is strategic, tactical and operational, in various stages, that is production, plant or supply chain level, so that they work towards a common goal – increasing the efficiency and profitability of the overall manufacturing value chain.
The goal is not just to find an appropriate modeling technique for plant wide simulation based multi objective optimization but also to map the strategic and tactical issues/questions faced by decision makers in the industry and converting them in to strategic and tactical optimization objectives. These strategic and tactical objectives can then be optimally aligned through multi-level, multi objective optimization.