A time staged linear programming model for production loading problems with import quota limit in a global supply chain

Globalization has ushered in a new era when more and more companies are expanding their manufacturing operations on a global scale. This poses some special challenges and raises certain issues. This paper examines production loading problems that involve import quota limits in the global supply chain network. Import quota, which is imposed by importing countries (mostly in North America and Europe), requires that certain types of products imported into these countries are against valid quotas held by the exporters. Globally loading of production, therefore, requires new methods and techniques, which are different from those used in domestic loading of production. This paper presents a time staged linear programming model for production loading problems with import limits to minimize the total cost, consisting of raw materials cost, machine cost, labour cost, overtime cost, inventory cost, outsourcing cost and quota related costs. To enhance the practical implications of the proposed model, different managerial production loading plans are evaluated according to expected changes in future production policies and situations. A series of computational results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.