Application of Triplet Notation and Dynamic Programming to Single-Line, Multi-Product Dairy Production Scheduling

The application of optimal methods for production scheduling in the dairy industry has been limited. Within supply chain terminology, dairy production was generally considered a push process but with advancements in automation, the industry is slowly transforming to a pull process. In this paper, the authors present triplet notation applied to the production scheduling of a single production line used for milk, juice, and carnival drinks. Once production and cleaning cycles are characterized as triplets, the problem is formulated. Lagrange relaxation is applied and the final solution is generated using dynamic programming. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61350-456-7.ch4.2