Methodology for integrative production planning in highly dynamic environments

Flexibility has become one of the most important characteristics in modern manufacturing. As a result, process chains must be highly adaptable to varying demands and to new products. Furthermore, many process chains contain external processes from suppliers to handle the fluctuating process utilisation. Moreover, novel manufacturing processes that allow an even higher flexibility, such as additive manufacturing, have been introduced. In order to identify optimal parameters for flexible process chains and considering interactions between processes, a new approach for production planning is necessary. This article presents a methodology for integrative production planning in highly dynamic environments thereof. The introduced methodology is applied on two industrial use cases with the aim of identifying optimal process elements and parameters taking production costs and time under consideration. The results show that the developed methodology allows for successful modelling and optimisation of the process chain.