Goal programming application for the decision support in the daily production planning of sawmills

Abstract

Sawmills are a key element for the forest industry. It is not a simple task to plan correctly their production, taking into account that there are many criteria that are appropriate for their operation. Besides, the results obtained from the use of different objectives present strong conflicts: the optimal value in a performance measure negatively affects the rest. Usual criteria, such as benefits, yield, productivity, inventory level, demand satisfaction, etc., generate very different solutions. Taking into account this context, this paper presents a formulation for the optimal planning of the daily production of sawmills. The problem is solved using a Goal Programming approach that allows different criteria to be appropriately weighted. Firstly, the magnitude of the conflicts among objectives is evaluated and then the proposed formulation using Goal Programming is applied to an example to show the ability of this proposal to balance different performance measures. This type of approach highlights the capability of the decision-maker, who must adjust different parameters to find a solution that fits the possibilities and requirements of the production plan and the context.