When less is better: Insights from the product mix dilemma from the Theory of Constraints perspective

Perhaps due to its origins in a production scheduling software called Optimised Production Technology (OPT), plus the idea of focusing on system constraints, many believe that the Theory of Constraints (TOC) has a vocation for optimal solutions. Those who assess TOC according to this perspective indicate that it guarantees an optimal solution only in certain circumstances. In opposition to this view and founded on a numeric example of a production mix problem, this paper shows, by means of TOC assumptions, why the TOC should not be compared to methods intended to seek optimal or the best solutions, but rather sufficiently good solutions, possible in non-deterministic environments. Moreover, we extend the range of relevant literature on product mix decision by introducing a heuristic based on the uniquely identified work that aims at achieving feasible solutions according to the TOC point of view. The heuristic proposed is tested on 100 production mix problems and the results are compared with the responses obtained with the use of Integer Linear Programming. The results show that the heuristic gives good results on average, but performance falls sharply in some situations. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Product mix: The approach of throughput per day

Defining product mix is very important for organisations because it determines how productive resources are allocated among various operations. However, it is often defined subjectively. The methods commonly used for this definition are Integer Linear Programming and heuristics based in Theory of Constraints, which use maximum throughput as a performance measure. Although this measure provides maximum throughput to specific problem, it does not consider aspects of time, as days, utilised to make the throughput. Taking this into account, the aim of this paper is to present a throughput per day approach to define product mix, as well as to propose a constructive heuristic to help in this process. The results show that the proposed heuristic obtained satisfactory approximation when compared to the optimum values obtained by enumeration. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Estudo da influência da proporção de um mix leite/popa da marcacujá na produção de pó obtido por três diferentes tipos de secagem

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Efeito no processo ECAP (EQUAL CHANNEL ANGULAR) na microestrutura e nas propriedades mecânicas de uma liga comercial de alumínio AA3104

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica - FEG

A contribuition to the study of channel coding in wireless communication systems

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Elétrica - FEIS

Produção de etanol utilizando mix de sorgo sacarino e cana-de-açúcar em processo de maturação

Pós-graduação em Microbiologia Agropecuária - FCAV

Análise termodinâmica, termoeconômica e econômica de uma usina sucroalcooleira para diferentes mix de produção

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica - FEIS

Measurement of Higgs boson production and properties in the WW decay channel with leptonic final states

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Measurement of the t(t)over-bar production cross section in the dilepton channel in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Measurements of the t(t)Overbar charge asymmetry using the dilepton decay channel in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Measurement of the t-channel single-top-quark production cross section and of the |V (tb)| CKM matrix element in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Channel arrangements and depositional styles in the Sao Lourenco fluvial megafan, Brazilian Pantanal wetland

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Measurement of the t(t)over-bar production cross section in the dilepton channel in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Influence of alternative drying aids on water sorption of spray dried mango mix powders: a thermodynamic approach

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Experimental setup for measuring roll waves on laminar open channel flows

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)