The Development, Implementation and use of a Package to Facilitate Planning and Production Scheduling in a Tobacco Processing Plant

Abstract

In this paper the operations associated with making cigarettes (from prepared leaf to packing and warehousing) are modeled and a scheduling “package” developed to provide an addition to the MIS. This package interfaces with the relevant on-site databases. The model allows management to determine whether the forecast de­mands for the complete range of products for the next year are able to be produced, facilitates production scheduling on a monthly basis for up to a year ahead and al­lows a wide range of “what if” questions to be answered. The model encompasses all operations of the plant including the assignment of forecast product demand to appropriate making machines, production of the appropriate quantity of filters, as­signment of the cigarettes produced to specific packers and then the determination as to whether the final product produced in the current period will be used to satisfy the current month’s demand or demand in the future. It should be noted that the making and packing machines cannot make or pack all products, only specific subsets. The model is developed on a monthly basis and is then replicated for up to a year ahead, with the individual months joined by the closing stock constraints. The development of this model has allowed management for the first time to test the feasibility of an­nual forecast demand and then on a monthly basis gain an idea of how it might be scheduled given the likely available resources.