Production planning for a company in the industry of compact discs mass replications

This chapter addresses a production planning problem for a company that mass-replicates compact discs. In the current situation, the staff of the company creates a production plan for the long term, with low flexibility to make a new plan when new orders arrive. The combination of attributes of the orders and the available machines for the processes generate a high complexity to determine the appropriate production routes and sequencing. To reduce complexity, the computation of a priority index is proposed to combine different attributes of the orders. To optimize the utilization of the production capacities, two approaches were proposed: a Simulation Model and a Linear Programming Model. The priority index is used in both models to promote early scheduling of certain orders to the machines during the planning horizon. The results show that the models proposed deliver production plans in a short time, with a better utilization of the production capacity, and with a focus on improving service level when compared to the current methodology in the company. Additionally, the Linear Programming Model is integrated into an intelligent decision-support system to guarantee the data transfer from the information system of the company and fast execution as often as needed.