Capacity/load analysis taking into account the Airbus production ramp-up and analysis of the lot-sizing problem

Abstract

This paper is composed of two parts. The first consists in providing a capacity/load analysis to know whether Shur-Lok International is able to satisfy the demand of Airbus for the following years. The second part includes the analysis of the lot-sizing process with the aim of increasing the customer satisfaction while minimizing the cost. The capacity /load analysis is carried out based on a Plan-do-check-act process. During this process, an aggregate production plan is developed and the associated linear programming is solved using the Julia programming language and the Gurobi solver. Several scenarios of capacity are then considered by changing the parameter values. The lot-sizing problem consists in a comparison between how the lot-sizes are effectively determined within the company and what the theoretical lot-sizing methods (optimal and heuristic) recommend. Based on the first analysis, it appears profitable for the company to get additional capacity and consider the building of safety stock in order to increase the customer satisfaction. The second analysis recommends to produce bigger lots and to opt for decreasing the setup cost by building inventories.