Coupling Hoist Scheduling and Production Line Arrangement for Productivity Maximization

Hoist scheduling is an important element for productivity maximization in multi-stage material handling processes, especially in electroplating system. However, the productivity of a multi-stage process not only depends on the hoist schedule, but also substantially relies on the production line arrangement, i.e., the design for spatial allocations of various processing units. In this paper, an MILP model has been developed to couple cyclic hoist scheduling and production line arrangement for global maximum of productivity. The efficacy of the proposed methodology is demonstrated by a virtual case study. The in-depth analysis for hoist scheduling with and without consideration of production line arrangement has also been provided.