An Application of Mixed Integer Programming in Industrial Engineering: Module-Centric Approach to Integrated Adaptation of Assembly Products and Supply Chains

Jeonghan Ko, UNL Engineering

Meeting Time: September 20, 2011, 2:00-2:50pm

Abstract: The research objective of this NSF-funded project is to develop new modeling methodologies for concurrent product assembly module design and supplier selection. Such methodologies will support quick and efficient adaptation of product assembly modules for high product variety, and allow identification of key interrelation between product module re-configurations and supply chain performance. Among the research tasks of this project, this talk focuses on demonstrating the application of discrete mathematics for this project. This talk presents a (1) graph based assembly representation method incorporating product and supply-chain information, and (2) mixed integer programming (MIP) based assembly decomposition method to identify best subassembly structures. The roles and limitations of such an MIP approach are also presented.