2012 4th International Conference on Computer Modeling and Simulation (ICCMS 2012) IPCSIT vol.

22 (2012) (2012) IACSIT Press, Singapore

Production Control Strategy and Its Parameters Optimization for a Two-Stage Production System
Haixia Wang,Le Cao,Ping Yan
College of Mechanical Engineering, Chongqing University

Abstract. On-off of the standby system is an important factor that influences the performance of the
production system. A dual threshold control strategy based on the on-off control of the standby system is proposed for the optimal control of the two-stage production system for which the last stage has stochastic production capacity. A control parameters optimization model is built with the objective of minimizing the total production cost, and a genetic algorithm is adopted to resolve the optimization problem. Finally, an example is taken to validate the effectiveness of the proposed dual threshold control strategy and the parameter optimization algorithm.

Keywords: Production control, Strategy, Two-stage production system, Standby system, Optimization

1. Introduction
Production control is an important method for optimizing production and improving production performance [1,2]. The control of the two-stage production system is an important research problem, on which much research has been done by researchers all over the world [3-5]. Aghezzaf E and Sitompul C et al [6] proposed a robust hierarchical production planning approach for a two-stage production system. Considering the relatively stable demands and the high setup costs experienced at the first stage of the system, a cyclical aggregate planning model was proposed. And a modified periodic review policy was then proposed at the lower level. A coupling plan, linking the two planning levels, was proposed to ensure the feasibility of the disaggregation process at every period. Liming Liu and Hui Li [7] considered a two-stage production system with a significant setup time at the upstream station. A threshold production control rule was used at the upstream station, with an objective of minimizing the work-in-process level while maintaining a required busy probability at the downstream station. Ding-zhong Feng and Yamashiro, M [8] considered a two-stage production-delivery system that incorporated a fixed quantity supply of finished goods to a buyer at a fixed interval of time, and decided an optimal batch size and raw-material ordering policy for such a system. SUN Yu and TAN Min [9] proposed a strategy which could improve both the reliability and the performance of the system, discussed a two-stage transfer line model in which machines are of variable processing rates, and the steady-state production rate was obtained based on the optimization control scheme. Gursoy, M.B. and Danhong, H. et al [10] considered a two-stage, pull-type production/inventory system with a known service mechanism at the first stage. Set-ups and start-ups were involved in the operation of the second stage and a production control policy for the second stage was developed, within the class of (R, r) policies, that minimized the long run average total cost. A semi-Markov decision model was used to obtain an optimal policy for the operation of the second stage. The structure of the optimal policy suggested using a suboptimal look-back policy that delayed the set-up at the second stage if the buffer lacks sufficient material. The random variation of the production capacity can increase the buffer inventory of the production system, using external power or standby equipment et al (standby system for short) is an effective way of reducing inventory. The research for the control of standby system is still less carried out among the existing
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control strategy of production system. A dual threshold control strategy based on the on-off control of the standby system is proposed for the optimal control of the two-stage production system with standby system, A control parameters optimization model is built with the objective of minimizing the total production cost, and a genetic algorithm is adopted to resolve the optimization problem.

2. Description of the Two-Stage Production System with Standby System

The two-stage production system with standby system can be expressed as three sub production systems and an intermediate buffer as shown in Fig.1, in which the first stage ,the last stage and standby system of the last stage can be separately denoted by M1, M2 and M3; the intermediate buffer B is placed between M1and M2, M3. When there are excessive amounts of semi-finished products in the buffer B or the production capacity of M2 is insufficient, M3 will be switched on. When the buffer level of the semi-finished is too low or production capacity is surplus, M3 will be in a closed state. After the materials processed in M1 into semifinished products to B, M2 and M3 will produce finished products from the semi-finished products.

Fig. 1 The scheme of the two-stage production system with standby system

2.1. Assumptions
(1) The materials can not be loss when they transfer in the two-stage production system. The intermediate transport time is negligible. (2) M1 is never starved. The sub system M2 and M3 are never blocked. (3) The production capacity of M1 is stable and no downtime appears. Production capacity of M2 is uncertain, which is exponentially distributed, once M3 is switched on, it will produce accordantly with stable production capacity. (4) The production capacity of M3 is greater than that of M2. (5) The production of M1, M2, M3 is instantaneous, and the production preparation time of each sub system is ignored. (6) The pieceproduction cost of the standby system M3 is much higher than M2. Once M3 is switched on, its capacity would be met prior to M2; the capacity of M3 will never be lost.

2.2. Control objective

The stochastic capacity of M2 can increase the buffer inventory. It is an effective way to make good use of standby system to reduce that. In the two-stage production system with standby system, the on-off of the standby system has an influence on the intermediate buffer inventory and the capacity utilization of M2. The intermediate buffer inventory will bring the holding cost; the capacity shortage of M2 and M3 will bring loss cost; the switching-on frequently of M3 will increase the processing cost. Therefore, the on-off of M3 need be controlled effectively to achieve the optimized control of the system. The control objective of this paper is to reduce the cost of the inventory of the system or the capacity of M2 and the extra processing cost that the switching-on of M3 causes as far as possible on the condition of ensuring the capacity utilization of the last stage M2.

3. Production Control Strategy and Its Parameter Optimization

Because of noise in the course measure, data from optical triangular scanners is preprocessed, which includes smoothing, removal noise and deleting exceptional points, before reconstructing surface is cable of identification clouds and process, the minimum distance is found automatically and tandem compound to acquire point group. Cut point group along a certain direction to obtain cross-section these are continuous and in a sequence [4].
In order to make the research convenient, some symbols and parameters and variable are listed as follows:

t: time parameter, t=1,2,3,T; H: The capacity of B in the two-stage production system; Mj: the sub system j, j=1,2,3; Vj(t): The capacity of the sub system Mj at t. The capacity V2(t) of M2 is assumed to be exponentially distributed random variable with rate 2; h1: the buffer content that will trigger the switch-on of
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M3, it represents the high threshold control parameter, 0< h1<H; h2: the buffer content that will trigger the switch-off of M3, it represents the low threshold control parameter, 0< h2<H; (t): The state of M3; The switch-on of M3 is denoted by (t)=1; (t)=0 denotes the switch-off of it; x(t): The theoretical production surplus of M2 and M3 at t; the insufficient capacity is denoted by x(t)0; x(t)<0 indicates the surplus of the production capacity; V2 : The average production capacity of M2; B(t): The capacity loss of M2 at t; A(t): The buffer inventory at t; Ps: The average capacity loss rate of M2 during T; Ph: The upper limit of the capacity loss rate of M2; cb: The extra production cost that the semi-finished products is produced by M3 than M2 per piece per unit time; CB: The inventory cost of the semi-finished in B per piece per unit time; CS: The capacity loss cost of M2 per piece per unit time; C(t): The total cost at t; C: The total cost during T.

3.1. A dual threshold control strategy based on the on-off control of the standby system
A production control strategy is put forward to according to the control objective of the section 1.2 as follows: M1 and M2 keep on producing separately according to the production capacity V1 and V2(t). When the buffer inventory of B reaches or exceeds the threshold point h1, M3 will be switched on to produce parallel with M2; M3 never stop producing as long as it is above h2; when it is less than the threshold point h2, M3 will be switched off; when it reaches or exceeds the threshold point h1 next time, M3 will be switched-on again. Therefore, the dual threshold control strategy is described according to the control process above as follows:
0 0 ( t + 1) = 1 1 x ( t ) < h2

( t ) = 1 and h2 < x ( t ) < h1

x ( t ) > h1

( t ) = 0 and h2 < x ( t ) < h1

(1)

3.2. Parameter optimization model

The capacity V2(t) of M2 is assumed to be exponentially distributed random variable with rate 2. The average production capacity can be described as follows:
V2 = 1

(2)

The theoretical production surplus of the M2 and M3 at t is effected by that at t-1, the capacity of M2, the capacity of M2, the capacity of M3 and the state (t) of M3; their relationship can be described by Eq. 3 below:
x ( t ) = x ( t 1) + V1 V2 ( t ) ( t ) V3
(3)

If x(t)<0, then the loss is -x(t); but if x(t)0, then there is an overage and so the loss is zero; the production loss B(t) of M2 at t can be expressed as follows:
B ( t ) = max {0, x ( t )}
(4)

If x(t)0, then the buffer inventory is x(t); but if x(t)<0, then there is a capacity loss and so the inventory is zero; A(t) at t can be expressed as follows:
A ( t ) = max { x ( t ) , 0}

(5)

The average capacity loss rate Ps of M2 during T can be obtained according to Eq. 2 and 3 and 4:

Ps = t =1

B (t ) TV2

T 1 2 max {0, x ( t )} t =1 T

(6)

This paper considers the cost of the capacity loss of M2 and the inventory cost of B and the extra production cost of M3. When x(t)0, the inventory cost comes into being; when x(t)<0, the capacity loss cost is engendered. There are no capacity loss in the M2 and M3 during each switching-on and the coming switching-off of M3, namely the inventory of buffer x(t)>0 is always true. The total cost C(t) at t is below:
CB x ( t ) C ( t ) = CS x ( t ) CB x ( t ) + V3cb x ( t ) < 0and ( t ) = 0 x ( t ) 0and ( t ) =0

(t ) = 1

(7)

The Eq. 7 can be simplified according to the Eq.1, 4, 5 as follows:

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C ( t ) = A ( t ) CB + B ( t ) CS + ( t ) V3cb

(8) (9)

The total cost C during T is given by:

C = C (t ) = ( A(t )C B + B (t )C s + (t )V3cb )
t =1 t =1 T T

In order to make the total cost C of the two-stage production system minimum, an optimal threshold (h1*, must be found under the satisfaction of the capacity loss rate of M2 according to the threshold control strategy having been set. Set the upper limit of the capacity loss rate as Ph and establish the control strategy parameters optimization model as follows: h2*)
min C = C ( t ) = ( A ( t ) CB + B ( t ) CS + ( t ) V3cb )
T T t =1

s. t.

Ps ( 0, Ph ] , 0 < h2 < h1 < ;

t =1

(10)

3.3. Optimization method

Genetic Algorithm (GA) is an efficient approach for the optimization of complex systems, and GA is adopted in the parameters optimization of the Dual threshold control strategy. Details of the algorithm are designed as follows: (1) Encoding. Binary encoding approach is adopted to encode the threshold h1 and h2. Length of a chromosome is 2m; the former m bits are assigned to h1, and the remained h2. The gene, consists of 0 and 1, is generated by a random number uniformly distributed. Eq.11 is used for decoding[11]:

( a 2 ) H h =
m i 1 w i =1 i

(2

1)

(11)

Where: hwthe decoded value of h1 and h2 (w=1, 2), mbits of the binary string of hw , Hupper limit of hw . (2) Initial population. Original population is generated with N chromosomes, binary string of which is randomly generated by uniform distribution in the interval of (0, H). The high threshold of the threshold control strategy is h1 and the low threshold h2, and h1> h2. Its necessary to judge whether h1 and h2 is feasible. If h1< h2 in a chromosome, a new chromosome will be uniformly generated to replace it, until all the chromosomes are feasible. (3) Fitness function. A penalty function is added to change the constraint resolution to non-restraint resolution, and the penalty function is given by:
2 2 F = k * ( max ( 0, Ps ) ) + ( max ( 0, Ps Ph ) )

(12)

Where, k is a large positive integer. The fitness function is the sum of the total cost C and the penalty function F:

f ( h1 , h2 ) = C + F

(13)

(4) Selection. Fitness in current population is used as the reproduction probability of the chromosome and excellent chromosomes of next population is picked by random traverse sampling according to the generation gap. (5) Crossover. Riffle crossover is taken out between two neighbor chromosomes, and when unfeasible chromosomes occurred, that is when h1> h2; they will be replaced by new chromosomes generated until feasible. (6) Mutation. After crossover, the chromosomes will mutate with dispersed mutation operator according to the fixed mutation rate. When unfeasible chromosomes occurred after mutation, they will be replaced by new chromosomes generated until it is feasible. (7) Termination criteria. The maximum generation is used as the termination criteria.

4. Numerical Examples
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Supposing that the production capacity V1 of M1 is 32 and the capacity V2(t) of M2 is assumed to be exponentially distributed random variable with rate 2=0.038; the capacity of H is 500; once M3 has been switched on ,the capacity V3 is 100; The holding cost CB and the capacity loss cost CS of M2 are separately 1 and 1.2 per piece per unit time; the extra production cost cb that the semi-finished is produced by M3 than M2 is 0.9 per piece per unit time; set the upper limit Ph 15% for the production capacity loss rate and the production time T=300, system operation parameters are shown in Table 1:
Table 1System operation parameters
parameters values V1 32

2
0.038

H 500

V3 100

Cs 1.2

CB 1

Cb 0.9

T 300

Ph 15%

The population size is set to 40; the chromosome length is 30; the maximal generation is 40; the crossover probability is 0.7; the mutation rate is 0.023; the generation gap is 1.0; the parameter k of the fitness function is 1106. The fitness values of optimal solution and performance tracking after the 40th iteration in the Matlab as shown in Fig. 2 and the optimal solutions of the control parameters h1 and h2 after the 40th iteration as shown in Fig. 3:

Fig. 2 The objective function of optimization solution and performance tracking after the 40th iteration

Fig. 3 The optimal solutions of the control parameters h1 and h2 after the 40th iteration

Fig. 2 shows that the objective values of the optimal solution are constringent in the operating process of the GA, the minimal solution of the total cost C after the 40th iteration is 2.7845104. The Figure 3 shows that the optimal solution of the control parameters h1 and h2 is also constringent in the process, the optimal solutions of the total cost of the two-stage production system are (h1*, h2*)= (138,90).

5. Conclusions
(1) The random variation of the production capacity can increase the buffer inventory of the production system; Using standby system is an effective way that reduces it. A dual threshold control strategy based on the on-off control of the standby system has been proposed; the on-off of the standby system has been controlled by the dual thresholds and the efficient control has been achieved under the condition of the random fluctuation of the last stage in the two-stage system. (2) A control parameters optimization model has been built with the objective of minimizing the total production cost, and a genetic algorithm has been adopted to resolve the optimization problem and the optimal control parameters of the dual threshold control strategy; The effectiveness of the strategy and the parameter optimization algorithm has been validated.
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6. References
[1] Gharbi, A., Kenn, J.-P.,Hajji, A. Operational level-based policies in production rate control of unreliable manufacturing systems with set-ups. International Journal of Production Research, 44(3), 2006, 545-567. [2] YAN H S, MENG X G, SHI W W, et al. Production Control of Tree-structured Manufacturing System. JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, 45(8), 2009, 148-154. [3] Kagan Gokbayrak, Omer Selvi.Optimal hybrid control of a two-stage manufacturing system. Proceedings of the American Control Conference, 2006, 3364-3369. [4] Cassandras,Christos G.,LIU,Q J, Gokbayrak,Kagan et al. Optimal control of a two-stage hybrid manufacturing system model. Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, 1, 1999, 450-455. [5] Mao J F, Cassandras, ChristosG. Optimal control of two-stage discrete event systems with real-time constraints, Discrete Event Dynamic Systems: Theory and Applications, 17(4), 2007, 505-529. [6] Aghezzaf E,Sitompul C,Van den Broecke F.. A robust hierarchical production planning for a capacitated two-stage production system, COMPUTERS & INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING, 60(2), 2011, 361-372. [7] LIU L M, LI H. Production control in a two-stage system .European Journal of Operational Research, 174(2), 2006, 887-904. [8] FENG D Z, Yamashiro, M.Operation planning for a two-stage production system under lumpy demand. Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2, 2004, 1257-1262. [9] SUN Yu, TAN Min. Reliability Analysis of a Transfer Line with Machines of Variable Processing Rates. CONTROL, 17(2), 2000, 255-258. [10] GURSOY, M.B., DANHONG, H., ALTIOK, T.OPTIMAL POLICIES FOR TWO-STAGE, PULL-TYPE PRODUCTION/INVENTORY SYSTEMS. Proceedings of the 31st IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, 2, 1992, 1682-1683. [11] LEI Yingjie, ZHANG Shanwen, LI Xuwu, et al. MATLAB Genetic Algorithm Toolbox and Application XIAN: XIDIAN UNIVERSITY Press, 2005

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