Solution Methodology for Scheduling Problems in Batch Plants

Abstract

This paper proposes a solution methodology for the production scheduling of batch plants. The methodology is defined by an integrated approach that simultaneously considers the representation of the scheduling problem, the optimization model, and the decision-making process. A problem representation and a mixed integer linear programing (MILP) model are developed and applied to solve a real world scheduling problem from the chemical-pharmaceutical industry. The main advantage of this approach is that it includes a general process representation that can be used across several departments of the company. Moreover, we also discuss development and implementation challenges of optimization methods for the process industry, and we provide some guidelines to mitigate existing problematic issues in this domain.