Journal of Computational Information Systems 9: 3 (2013) 11671174

Available at http://www.Jofcis.com
A Model Approach to POLCA System for Quick
Response Manufacturing

Shichao LUAN
1,
, Guozhu JIA
1
, Jili KONG
1
1
School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Abstract
Paired-cell Overlapping Loops of Cards with Authorization (POLCA) system is an eective production
and materials ow control mechanisms (PMFC) for Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM). We construct
a novel nonlinear mathematical programming formulation for POLCA system by means of deeper
discussion of POLCA mechanism and ner division of time. The number of cards operating on every pair
of cells is determined by the new model for POLCA system. And according to the analysis of POLCA
operational mechanism, a new theorem and an updated algorithm is respectively presented to simplify
model and does the feasibility test. The results of numerical example show that the new model and
method are reasonable and valid.
Keywords: Quick Response Manufacturing(QRM); POLCA System; PMFC; Mathematical
Programming
1 Introduction
Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) which is designed by Suri [1] can be an eective com-
petitive strategy for companies that work on MTO or ETO. QRM seeks to reduce lead times
across all operations in order to gain responsiveness to the customer and employs the Paired-cell
Overlapping Loops of Cards with Authorization (POLCA) for controlling ow and inventory in
such manufacturing environments [1, 2]. When meeting a turbulent production environment,
traditional production and materials ow control (PMFC) systems such as Kanban [3, 4, 5] and
CONstant Work In Process (CONWIP) [6, 7] will lead to proliferation of WIP and increase sys-
tem complexity [8]. POLCA is a hybrid push-pull production and materials ow control (PMFC)
mechanism developed as part of the overall strategy of QRM [2]. It can overcome limitations
of traditional PMFC systems in high-variety and/or customization product environments. The
number of POLCA cards is one of the most important parameters in the POLCA system [1, 9].
Moreover, the number of POLCA cards in any loop is always a cap on the WIP in that loop.
If the number of POLCA cards is set too high, the system functions are unconstrained. This

Project supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (No.70972003 and 71031001),Special-
ized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (No.20111102110025) and the Aeronautical
Science Foundation of China (ASFC) (No.2011ZG51073).

Corresponding author.
Email address: luanshichao@gmail.com (Shichao LUAN).
15539105 / Copyright 2013 Binary Information Press
February 1, 2013
1168 S. Luan et al. /Journal of Computational Information Systems 9: 3 (2013) 11671174
will lead to proliferation of the number of WIP. And the system does not regulate the control
of shop oor throughput times at all. If the number of POLCA cards is set too low, the system
will not be able to cope with the amount of orders issued, and hence total throughput time (the
summation of waiting time and shop oor throughput time) will steadily increase.
Research on detailed analyses of POLCA system is not sucient both theoretically and practi-
cally. A general introduction and more analytical contents of the POLCA system can be found in
[1, 8, 11, 13]. Since the publication of Suris landmark book named Quick Response Manufactur-
ing, innovative principles of QRM have been proven with impressive results at many companies in
a variety of industries [1]. Fernandes and Silva [2] proposed Generic POLCA (GPOLCA) of which
performance outperforms both POLCA and MRP mechanisms in a multi-stage, multi-product
manufacturing system. Riezebos [14] exploited discrete event simulation to show the impact of
the number of POLCA cards on throughput time. Baysan et al. [15] illustrated a framework for
economic analysis of POLCA system by means of simulation on a real-life manufacturing rm.
Vandaele et al. [16]proposed a load-based version of the POLCA control system (LB-POLCA)
which can determine POLCA parameters according to an advanced resources planning (ARP)
system. Suri [11] has developed a clear, concise, and accessible method of presenting QRM strat-
egy which provides helpful pointers for QRM implementation. Riezebos [17] has investigated and
discussed the design of the POLCA system. He reported on the design of a POLCA system in
practice and presented the quick scan that was used in the design of the POLCA system for the
SME. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows.
2 Formal Description and Mathematical Programming
2.1 Formal description for POLCA system
There are no back ows in the POLCA system. Let n {0, 1, 2, , N} is the index of cells or
workstations. Each order has to visit the rst cell Nand the last cell 0. At time 0, the cell is not
set up for any order, so the rst selected order is located in the stock point M. Understand that
n
1
< n
2
if cell n
1
succeeds cell n
2
. The nal cell 0 includes only the nal operation, while every
upstream cell n {1, 2, , N} includes a production cell and a temporary inventory pool I
n
for
POLCA cards of cell n. An example is provided in the Fig.1 and the product ow is Cell 5-Cell
4-Cell 2-Cell 1-Cell 0. The Cell 5/Cell 4 card would be attached to a job as it entered Cell 4; it
would stay with the job until Cell 2 has completed it; and only when the job moves on to its next
cell (Cell 2) would this Cell 5/Cell 4 card be returned to Cell 5. We shall construct a nonlinear
mathematical formulation of which objective is to minimize a weighted combinational cost of the
number of POLCA cards in the whole circulation in the following section.
2.2 Assumption and notations
There is no equipment breakdown and no absence of operators, nor any shortages of WIP and
raw material entering the production system. Processing times are deterministic but vary with
dierent jobs in dierent cell. Setup time is added to processing time for each job at entrance
cell N. Each cell can only process one order at a time. The quantum of production capacity for
each POLCA card equals to one. The transmission time which loop back to the rst cell in pair
S. Luan et al. /Journal of Computational Information Systems 9: 3 (2013) 11671174 1169
Fig. 1: The simulation for operational mechanism of POLCA system
for POLCA cards is assumed to be zero. For the nal cell 0, a time-phased production schedule
is given and must be met by a high-level MRP system [1].
For convenience of description, two denitions are presented as follows: The POLCA card
of cell n is dened that the POLCA card of which originating cell is cell n, i.e., the n/S(n) card
is a POLCA card of cell n. The coordinating card of cell n is dened that the POLCA card
of which destination cell is cell n, i.e. the P(n)/n card is a coordinating card of cell n.
Indices and Sets:
t index for the time periods

T = 0, 1, 2, , T;
n index for cells

N = 1, 2, , N;
S(n) set of immediately subsequent destination cell (paired-cell) of cell n;
P(n) set of immediately preceding originating cell of cell n;
Input parameters:
C
n
accumulated value of one POLCA card originating from cell n;

n
safety factor of POLCA cards;

n
t
production capacity of paired-cell n/S(n);
e
n,S(n)
number of units of cell n which are required to make one unit of cell S(n);
V
n
0
number of POLCA cards of cell n available in cell S(n) at the end of period 0;
X
0
t
production requirement;
Set variables:
X
n
t
number of POLCA cards of cell n (i.e., n/S(n) cards) which respectively trigger the pro-
duction with their coordinating cards in cell n during period t;
Y
n
t
number of POLCA cards of cell n which are detached from their associated succeeding
destination cells S(n) during period t;
U
n
t
number of detached POLCA cards of cell n which are available in cell n at the end of period
t and have not triggered any production yet.
V
n
t
number of POLCA cards of cell n which are available in cell S(n) at the end of period t;
U
n
0
number of POLCA cards of cell n (available paired-cell n/S(n)) which are injected into cell
n by managers at the beginning of the entire planning horizon. Moreover, U
0
0
= 0.
For safety factor of POLCA cards,
n

n1
for n = 1, 2, , N. e
n,S(n)
{1, 2, } is
given by the product specication. Furthermore, when e
n,S(n)
1 , it is the hybrid model by
One-for-One Mode (OOM)and Multiple-for-One Mode (MOM). Production requirement is in
terms of the number of POLCA cards which correspond to nished products in the cell 0 during
period t. Production quota or eective demand of cell equals to max{0, e
n,S(n)
Q
S(n)
V
n
0
}, which
is measured in terms of the number of POLCA cards of cell n, i.e., paired-cell n/S(n) cards,
imposed upon cell n for the whole planning horizon, Q
n
{0, 1, 2, } (n = 1, 2, , N). Q
0
is
dened as

T
t=1
X
0
t
. We shall use the following abbreviations for variables: < U, V, X, Y > stands
1170 S. Luan et al. /Journal of Computational Information Systems 9: 3 (2013) 11671174
for all the variables involved, which includes N (T +1) U-type variables, N T V -type variables,
N T X-type variables, and N T Y -type variables; < U
0
, X > stands for N U-type variables
with t = 0 and N T X-type variables; < U
0
> stands for < U
1
0
, U
2
0
, , U
N
0
>; X
n
stands for
< X
n
1
, X
n
2
, , X
n
T
>.
2.3 The model for POLCA
Minimize
N

n=1
C
n
[U
n
0
+ V
n
0
+
n
]
Subjecet to
U
n
t1
+ Y
n
t1
X
n
t
U
n
t
= 0, n = 1, 2, , N; t = 1, 2, , T. (1)
V
n
t1
+ X
n
t
Y
n
t
V
n
t
= 0, n = 1, 2, , N; t = 1, 2, , T. (2)
V
k
t1
+ X
k
t
e
k,0
X
0
, all k P(0); t = 1, 2, , T. (3)
X
n
t
= min

U
n
t1
+ Y
n
t1

n
t
n = 1, 2, , N; t = 1, 2, , T.
Q
n

t1
=1
X
n

(4)

Y
n
t
= e
n,S(n)
X
S(n)
t
n = 1, 2, , N; t = 1, 2, , T.
Y
n
0
= 0 n = 1, 2, , N.
(5)
Y
n
t
V
n
t1
+ X
n
t
n = 1, 2, , N; t = 1, 2, , T. (6)
U
n
0
+ V
n
0
= U
n
t
+ V
n
t
+ Y
n
t
n = 1, 2, , N; t = 1, 2, , T. (7)
T

t=1
X
n
t
= Q
n
n = 1, 2, , N. (8)
U
n
0
, V
n
0
nonnegative integer n = 1, 2, , N. (9)
The objective function is to minimize a weighted combinational cost of the number of POLCA
cards in the whole circulation. Constraints (1) and (2) describe the conservation of ow between
cell n and S(n), in terms of POLCA cards during some preriod T. Constraint (3) guarantees
that the production schedule of the nal stage can be carried out. Constraint (4) shows that the
number of POLCA cards put into prodution in cell n during period t is determined by the available
detached POLCA cards, prodution capacity and remaining production quota. Constraint (5)
indicates the number of POLCA cards which are detached from cell S(n) in period t. Constraint
(6) ensures that the number of POLCA cards of cell n which are detached from their associated
succeeding cells S(n) during period t is smaller than or equal to the number of POLCA cards
of cell n which are available in cell S(n) at the end of period t 1 plus the number of POLCA
cards of cell n which respectively trigger the production in cell n during period t. Constraint (7)
means that the number of POLCA cards circulating in loops of paired-cell n/S(n) is unchanged
and equal to U
n
0
+ V
n
0
during the planning horizon. Constraint (8) ensures that the production
quota imposed on each cell is met exactly. The nonlinear constraints (4) and linear constraints (5)
greatly increase the number of variables, constraints and the computer time in POLCA system
operation.
S. Luan et al. /Journal of Computational Information Systems 9: 3 (2013) 11671174 1171
3 Transformation
The key decision variables that need to be controlled by management are the U
n
0
(n = 1, 2, , N).
It represents the number of POLCA cards of cell n (available in paired-cell n/S(n)) which are
injected into cell n by management at the beginning of the entire planning horizon. The trans-
formation is motivated by the observation that if both < U, V, X, Y > and <

U,

V ,

X,

Y > are
two feasible solutions to (1)-(9) and < U
0
>=<

U
0
> , then < U, V, X, Y >=<

U,

V ,

X,

Y >. In
other words, once U
n
0
(n = 1, 2, , N) assume their specic values, all other variables in (1)-(9)
are uniquely determined. For future discussion, the following nomenclature which is motivated
by [18, 19] will be adopted. A partial solution satises to be feasible in a set of constraints if
there is a complement to it such that the whole solution, i.e., the partial one together with its
complement, satises all the constraints. Similarly, a partial solution is said to be feasible (op-
timal) in an optimization model if there exists a complement to it such that the whole solution
is feasible (optimal) in the model. In addition, two optimization models are said to have the
same feasible (optimal) partial solution if there exist two complements, which may or may not
be dierent from each other, such that two resulting whole solutions are feasible (optimal) in the
two models, respectively.
Considering the following updated model (M 1) for POLCA system as follows:
Minimize
N

n=1
C
n
[U
n
0
+ V
n
0
+
n
]
Subjecet to
V
n
0
+
t

=1
X
n

e
n,S(n)
t

=1
X
S(n)

0, n = 1, 2, , N; t = 1, 2, , T. (10)
U
n
0

t

=1
X
n

+ e
n,S(n)
t1

=1
X
S(n)

0, n = 1, 2, , N; t = 1, 2, , T. (11)
X
n
t
{0, 1, 2, ,
n
t
}, n = 1, 2, , N; t = 1, 2, , T. (12)
U
n
0
{0, 1, 2, }, n = 1, 2, , N. (13)
Lemma 1 If < U, V, X, Y > satises (1)-(9), then < U
0
, X > satises (10)-(11).
Proof It follows from (2), (5) and (6) that e
n,S(n)
X
S(n)
t
= Y
n
t
= V
n
t1
+ X
n
t
V
n
t
V
n
t1
+
X
n
t
. According to operation mechanism of the POLCA system: at the end of period t 1 in
the temporary inventory pool I
S(n)
, V
n
t1
= V
n
0
+

t1
=1
X
n

t1
=1
Y
n

. Hence, e
n,S(n)
X
S(n)
t

V
n
t1
+ X
n
t
= V
n
0
+

t1
=1
X
n

t1
=1
Y
n

+ X
n
t
and V
n
0
+

t
=1
X
n

e
n,S(n)

n
=1
X
S(n)

0 i.e.,
< U
0
, X >satises (10). According to (5),

t1
=1
Y
n

e
n,S(n)

t1
=1
X
S(n)

= 0. Then,

t1
=1
Y
n

=
e
n,S(n)

t1
=1
X
S(n)

. And according to (1),

t
=1
U
n
1
+

t1
=1
Y
n

t
=1
X
n

t
=1
U
n

= 0.
Simplication can be obtained that U
n
0
U
n
t
+

t1
=1
Y
n

t
=1
X
n

= 0. So, U
n
0
+

t1
=1
Y
n

t
=1
X
n

0. Then, 0 U
n
0

t
=1
X
n

t1
=1
Y
n

= U
n
0

t
=1
X
n

+ e
n,S(n)

t1
=1
X
S(n)

,
i.e., U
n
0

t
=1
X
n

+ e
n,S(n)

t1
=1
X
S(n)

0. Hence, < U
0
, X > satises (11). Moreover, both
constraints (12) and (13) are obviously satised according to the denition of parameters and
variables for the POLCA system.
1172 S. Luan et al. /Journal of Computational Information Systems 9: 3 (2013) 11671174
Lemma 2 If < U
0
, X > satises (10)-(13), then < U
0
> is a feasible partial solution to (1)-(9).
Proof Let< U
0
,

X > satises (10)-(13). Dene < X > as follows: X
n
t
= min{

X
n
t
, Q
n
} and X
n
t
=
min{

t
=1

X
n

, Q
n
}min{

t1
=1

X
n

, Q
n
} for n = 1, 2, , N, t = 2, 3, , T. It follows from the
denition of < X > that

t
=1
X
n

= min{

t
=1

X
n

, Q
n
} for t = 2, 3, , T and in particular,

t
=1
X
n

Q
n
,n = 1, 2, , N. We now show that < U
0
, X > also satises (10)-(13). It follows
from the denition of Q
n
that V
n
0
+ Q
n
e
n,S(n)
Q
S(n)
0. Since < U
0
,

X > satises (10), V
n
0
+

t
=1
X
n

e
n,S(n)

t
=1
X
S(n)

= V
n
0
+ min{

t
=1

X
n

, Q
n
} e
n,S(n)
min{

t
=1

X
S(n)

, Q
S(n)
} 0
,and < U
0
, X > satises (10). It follows from the denition of Q
n
thate
n,S(n)
Q
S(n)
Q
n
0. Since
< U
0
,

X > satises (11) and (13), U
n
0

t
=1
X
n

+e
n,S(n)

t1
=1
X
S(n)

= U
n
0
min{

t
=1

X
n

, Q
n
}+
e
n,S(n)
min{

t1
=1

X
S(n)

, Q
S(n)
} 0 , < U
0
, X > satises (11). By the above construction, < X >
satises (12). Therefore, we have proved that < U
0
, X > satises (10)-(13).
We next show that < U
0
, X > is a feasible partial solution to (1)-(9). To construct a complement
to < U
0
, X >, we let U
n
t
, V
n
t
, Y
n
t
(t = 1, 2, , T and n = 1, 2, , N) be dened according to
(1)-(2), (5)-(9). If U
n
t1
+ Y
n
t1
< X
n
t
, U
n
t1
X
n
t
+ Y
n
t1
1 since all variables involved are
integers. As a result, U
n
0

t
=1
X
n

+ e
n,S(n)

t1
=1
X
S(n)

U
n
t1
X
n
t
+ Y
n
t1
< 0 according to
the POLCA operational mechanism. A contradiction arises and hence U
n
t1
+ Y
n
t1
X
n
t
. By
straightforward substitution, we can show that < U, V, X, Y > satises (3) and (4). The Lemma
2 is then proved.
From proof and instruction of both Lemma 1 and 2, we can present the following theorem:
Theroem 1 Model (M 0) is feasible if and only if model (M 1) is feasible. And two models both
have the same set of feasible partial solutions < U
0
>, the same set of optimal partial solutions
< U
0
>, and the same optimal value.
The conguration of linear programming (M 1) is computationally more favorable than that
of the nonlinear programming (M 0). The link between (M 0) and (M 1) hinges on < U
0
> as
shown in Theorem 1. Since < U
0
> is the only decision variables controlled by management, we
can solve (M 1) and still obtain a relevant feasible or optimal partial solution < U
0
> to (M 1).
(M 1) is a mixed integer linear programming which has 2 N T constraints, excluding (12)-(13),
and T (N + 1) variables, of which N are required to be integral. Compared with model (M 0),
model (M 1) has much less number of constraints and variables. Consequently, the linear model
(M 1) is computationally more favorable than that of the nonlinear programming (M 0).
4 Numerical Example
The linear programming model (M 1) can be solved directly using available computer software
such as MATLAB, CPLEX, GLPK, etc.. In this research, we solved a example for testing purposes
using Genetic Algorithm (GA) [20] by MATLAB2010a on a PC including Intel(R) Celeron(R)
CPU E3400 and 2 GB RAM. According to many times parameter adjustment and test operation,
the function tolerance (error) is 1e-12, the crossover fraction is 0.8, and the maximum number of
generation is 200. Throughout algorithm of this paper, we dene the smallest integer which is
larger than or equal solution as the nal integer solution. Initial parameters, variables and test
results for the numerical example are set as follows:
Numerical example e
n,S(n)
1 means that POLCA system is Multiple-for-One Mode (MOM).
Let N = 2, T = 2, S(2) = 1, S(1) = 0; C
2
= 6, C
1
= 15; e
n,S(n)
1 for n {1, 2} i.e., e
2,1
= 2
S. Luan et al. /Journal of Computational Information Systems 9: 3 (2013) 11671174 1173
Fig. 2: Simulation of genetic algorithm for numerical example
and e
1,0
= 1;
n
t
= 50, n {1, 2}, t {1, 2}; V
n
0
= 0 for n {1, 2};
1
= 0.15,
2
= 0.10;
X
1
0
= 0, X
2
0
= 0, X
0
1
= 5, X
0
2
= 10.
We set e
n,S(n)
1 for n {1, 2} i.e., e
2,1
= 2 and e
1,0
= 1; means that POLCA system
is a Multiple-for-One Mode (MOM). Furthermore, the approximation optimal solution: U =<
U
1
0
, U
2
0
>=< 10, 18 > using Genetic Algorithm (GA) by Matlab2010a. And the reason of GA
optimization terminated is that the function tolerance (error) is less than 1e-12, for example.
In Fig. 2, the GA nds the optimum 261 and approximation optimal solution of (M 1) when
iteration is to 164 generations and the computational time is about 10 seconds.
5 Conclusion
From our review and analysis of literatures, POLCA is an eective and competitive materials
control strategy that can get around a mass of limitations of traditional PMFC systems in QRM.
And the number of POLCA cards is one of the most important parameters in the POLCA system.
We construct a novel nonlinear mathematical programming formulation of POLCA cards by a
further discussion and consider the ner division of time for a POLCA system. From the analysis
of the POLCA system operational mechanism, we present the proof of two lemmas and a new
theorem. Then a transformation method for the novel nonlinear mathematical programming is
given as the reason of diculty for solving the nonlinear programming. And the novel nonlinear
model is transformed into a simple linear formulation by the proof of new theorem. And also,
results of the numerical example show that the linear model is reasonable and valid. Future
research topics would include the development of POLCA cards models for the distribution-type
in triggering production at loops of paired-cell and construct the stochastic model for more general
POLCA system.
1174 S. Luan et al. /Journal of Computational Information Systems 9: 3 (2013) 11671174
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