A multi-product and multi-period aggregate production plan: a case of automobile component manufacturing firm

Abstract

PurposeThe study attempts to develop a multi-product multi-period (MPMP) aggregate production plan (APP) to fulfill the customers' demand in terms of throughput and lead time for achieving market competence.Design/methodology/approachThis research proposes an integrated Fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP), multi-objective linear programming (MOLP), and simulation approach. Initially, FAHP is used to select the essential objectives a firm desires to achieve. Adopting the MOLP, an APP is formulated for the firm under study. Later, the simulation model of a firm is created in a discrete-event simulation (DES) software Arena© to evaluate the applicability of the proposed APP. A comparative analysis of the manufacturing performance levels (namely throughput, lead time, and resource utilization) achieved through the implication of an existing production plan and proposed APP is conducted further.FindingsThe findings from the study depict that the proposed MOLP-based APP can satisfy the customers' requirement (namely throughput and lead time) and improve the level of resource utilization compared with the firm's existing production plan.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed research facilitates researchers and practitioners to understand the process of developing MOLP-based MPMP APP and analyzing its applicability through simulation technique to be utilized for developing APP at their firm.Originality/valueAn integrated FAHP-MOLP-simulation framework is the novel contribution to the literature on production planning. It can be extended to solve strategic, tactical, and operational problems in different domains like service, healthcare, supply chain, logistics, and project management.