Energy Implications of Production Planning Decisions

The great attention toward environmental issues and especially on energy utilization, leads the European Union to implement the 2009/28/EC Directive, fixing three main goals to be achieved for 2020 by the EU member states: 20% reduction of the greenhouse gases emission, 20% increase of using renewable energy and 20% improving of energy efficiency. To achieve these objectives, new environmental and energy policies must be taken into account not only by governments but also by firms. This work focuses on the energy efficiency effects of production planning decisions in the die casting processes. We present a model based on related literature and on experimental data. The numerical model is based on the relationship between energy consumption of the machines and the production rate of the machines, with the aim to minimize the energy necessary to satisfy the demand of finished products. This model may support manager’s decisions so as to minimize energy consumption and consequently environmental impact of die-casting operations.