We consider a problem of minimizing the number of batches of a fixed capacity processing the orders of various sizes on a finite set of items. This batch consolidation problem is motivated by the production system typical in raw material industries in which multiple items can be processed in the same batch if they share sufficiently close production parameters. If the number of items processed ...

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This paper describes the use of a methodology for value stream mapping and analysis of Manufacturing Engineering New Product Introduction processes. The applicability and usefulness of the technique to process improvement in this domain is explored in a case study where the production system for a new component part is planned and proven. This analysis enables an improvement strategy for the Ma...

Résumé en anglais This paper deals with formal modelling of Petri nets including shared resources. These phenomena appear widely in the production management context, for the modelling of manufacturing cells. But, they usually cannot be formally represented in dioid algebraic structures based on sets of scalars. In this paper, we design a method to describe such a phenomenon in a dioid of inter...

We present a new abstraction technique for the exploration of graph transformation systems with infinite state spaces. This technique is based on patterns, simple graphs describing structures of interest that should be preserved by the abstraction. Patterns are collected into pattern graphs, layered graphs that capture the hierarchical composition of smaller patterns into larger ones. Pattern g...

We address a stochastic single item production system in a make-to-stock environment with partial knowledge on future demand resulting from customers ordering in advance of their actual needs. The problem consists of determining the optimal size of a production lot to replenish inventory, so that delivery promises are met on time at the expense of minimal average costs. For this problem an opti...

Conversion to organic agriculture describes the process of learning and implementation of changes on the farm towards a more sustainable and natural way of farming. The form the process takes depends on the local circumstances and the predisposition of the farmer or the community, and it varies from farm to farm. The more knowledge a farmer has about the concepts and practices of organic farmin...

Lean construction has recently gained momentum in England’s highways construction supply chain. The literature indicates that the current view to Visual Management (VM) within those lean implementations is limited to some VM tools. This paper explores the condition of VM, which is a fundamental sensory information management strategy in the lean production system, in the highways sector in Engl...

Articles dealing with industrial management decision-making generally rely on a cost system to establish a global indicator and identify the best solution. Cost accounting is based on a number of assumptions as to production system operation that may be quite remote from those used in decision modelling. Our paper points out the origin of this inconsistency and that it may lead to irrelevant de...

The ability to learn from a small number of examples has been a difficult problem in machine learning since its inception. While methods have succeeded with large amounts of training data, research has been underway in how to accomplish similar performance with fewer examples, known as one-shot or more generally few-shot learning. This technique has been shown to have promising performance, but...