A model for master production scheduling in automotive powertrain plants: A case study

Based on a case study in the automotive industry, this paper presents a mathematical model dedicated to support the master production scheduling process in powertrain plants. Powertrain plants produce engines, gearboxes, and chassis parts that supply the car assembly plants and spare parts centers. The proposed model helps to decide, every week, for each production line, on the quantities to be produced of each product over a planning horizon of several weeks. The model is a mixed integer linear program optimizing four objectives: satisfying the forecast customer demand, reaching safety stock levels, balancing stock levels between products, and leveling the production percentage of each product over the time. The model also considers the specific constraints of each production line. The contribution of this paper is to provide an overview of a production planning problem coming from a real case study, to describe the model designed according to the needs of the plant planning team, and to present the results obtained in terms of solution relevance and calculation time.