Approach of Integrated Order Scheduling and Flexible Resource Planning for Mass Customization.

The Approach of Integrated Order Scheduling and Flexible Resource Planning (AIFP) has been developed to satisfy the new requirements of Mass Customization (MC) for Production Planning and Control (PPC), like stable lead times and reliable due dates.
The integration of Order Scheduling and Resource Planning allows a rapid response to changing demand. The Approach is focusing on the existing mix- and volume flexibility of a production system. AIFP has been implemented for a flow shop and a supply chain. It is based on capacity level and four time constraints. To align PPC with company objectives the production schedule and capacity plan is designed to maximize profit.
A flow shop system is suited to achieve mass production efficiency. The implementation has been made as an optimization and as a heuristic. Different solvers for optimization have been compared for processing time and efficiency of cut mechanism.
The Implementation for a three level supply chain has been used to compare the effect of central and decentral planning on inventory and capacity cost and their distribution along the supply chain.
The analyses showed the positive effects of AIFP especially when applied to a supply chain.