Off-line scheduling a simple chemical batch process production plan using the ILOG scheduler
This paper considers the application of event based constrained logic programming solutions for a typical multipurpose multistage batch process scheduling problem using the ILOG scheduler software package, where resource requirements such as equipment items and feed materials etc. are considered in various combinations. The aim is to contrast the approach with established mathematical programming approaches. The solution is based on a heuristic approach where the process route of each product is considered separately along with their resource requirements and each product is made in a campaign mode, where more than one batch of particular activity might be performed within a cycle, so that the material balance within the system can be maintained. These solutions can be generated within very modest computation time but require considerable preprocessing of the input data. This work has shown that the ILOG system is fairly flexible and readily interfaced with external systems and can cope with the various constraints imposed on the problem. However, further work is required for testing large scale industrial problems. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
schedule schedule batch process production resources activities constraints manufacturing scheduler process operations