A Heuristic method for obtaining an integer solution to a facility design optimization problem

Abstract

A linear programming model is formulated for optimizing the design of a tire plant. The determination of process capacities, the amounts of the various types of equipment, and the time-phasing of their acquisition constitutes facility design in this study. The large-scale linear program is decomposed into several subproblems to induce computational feasibility. Application of a linear programming code to these subproblems may yield a noninteger, optimum solution. Available integer programming codes can handle only very small problems. A heuristic method that exploits the special structure of the model is presented in this paper. The methodology is applied to the design of a new tire plant.