A lot-sizing problem in an automated foundry

This work consists of the study of a foundry which has only one furnace and several moulding machines producing a known demand of different types of items which can be made of different alloys. There are two important and linked decision levels in this foundry: (1) what alloys should be produced in the furnace in each period, and (2) the quantity of items to be produced in each moulding machine. Two different cases are highlighted here: a single alloy can produce all the items, and different alloys are needed to produce the items. Assuming that the production bottleneck is the furnace, efficient problem-specific solution methods are proposed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.