A Study On Multi-level Multi-plant Production Planning And Scheduling Methods

Nowadays, with constant changes and development of teamwork worldwide among all industries, there is much less possibility and lower economy edge of combination of raw materials inbound, components processing and final product assembly within a single plant by one company. While it appears more and more that products are made through a distributed multi-location multi-plant production mode. The TFT-LCD industry today has become a typical one with characteristics of multi-level and multi-plant. Due to its complexity of process and large amount of investment, every stage of process has been designed as one or several independent production modes in SCM of TFT LCD industry, which possess different production features and targets and are located in different regions and plants, even run by different entrepreneurs. Thus plants with different processes:the preceding process, the middle process and the posterior segment process are united to create a typical SCM with multi-level and multi-plant environment.Therefore production planning and scheduling, as inter-company connection and main axis in SCM, has transformed a core task in highly efficient management among multi-plant in different locations. And the development of the industry has brought new tasks to relative companies in SCM as follows:how to ensure synchronization of production planning and scheduling from multiple distributed and independent plants? How to make accurate plans to increase output, lower inventory and enhance utility of all resources among associated companies?How to tackle with uncertainty and unexpected events both inside and outside, and implement rescheduling in a rapid and dynamic way?This thesis presents studies with emphasis on updated technologies of production planning and scheduling integrating virtual organization management and operation management among modern SCM co-operative enterprises and provides solutions to events as below. Firstly, a study is made on SCM virtual enterprises cooperative mode which is to setup core production planning and guiding system for multi-location plants, enabling smooth communication and cooperation among different planners to ensure successful implementation of overall planning and adjustments. Secondly, a multi-level multi-plant production planning and scheduling operation model has been established basing on the study and use of Theory of Constraint and simulation matrix in advanced planning and scheduling technology. Simultaneously rapid and accurate recovering measures are considered to protect production from unexpected issues. The results of this research will make contributions to avoidance of SKD or raw material shortage in continuous SCM operation and excess or production imbalance, and increase of output to enhance overall SCM benefits. Thirdly, this thesis presents a study on solving actual problems arising from integration planning and scheduling in TFT LCD business group of F Company which is processing with three successive processes in plants in Two Straights Three Regions.The business group assembling module (the posterior segment process) is chosen as the core integration unit to build a virtual organization for whole process planning across different plants with separate process:the preceding, the middle and the posterior process. And advanced planning and scheduling technologies are utilized to establish a standard mode of multi-level multi-plant production planning and scheduling operation and readjustment planning against unexpected issues. The study has been applied in production practice in TFT-LCD business group producing T product, and shows real cases and its effect to verify feasibility and effectiveness of theories and methods proposed in this thesis in multi-level multi-plant environment.