Realizing block planning concepts in make-and-pack production using MILP modelling and SAP APO©

In the industrial application environment considered, different variants of a basic product type are produced using the same resources and following the same basic process plan. To support production planning and scheduling for this type of production system, the concept of block planning is introduced, which has gained considerable attention, particularly in the consumer goods industry. A block represents a pre-defined sequence of production orders of variable size. In order to demonstrate the practical applicability of the proposed block planning concept, we consider the production system of a major producer of hair dyes as a case study. We present two different implementations of the block planning concept. One utilizes the Production Planning/Detailed Scheduling module of the SAP APO