An objective function to address production sequencing with minimal tooling replacements

A strategy is presented to obtain production sequences resulting in minimal tooling replacements. An objective function is employed to distribute the tool wear as evenly as possible throughout the sequence. This objective function is an extension of Miltenburg’s earlier work (1989) concerned with obtaining production sequences while evenly distributing the satisfaction of demand. Smaller problems are solved to optimality, while larger problems are solved as close as possible to optimality. The production sequences are simulated to estimate required tooling replacements. The methodology presented here consistently results in fewer tooling replacements when compared with earlier published work (McMullen et al. 2002, McMullen 2003).