Targeting Aggregate Production Planning for an Energy Supply Chain

Aggregate production planning for an energy supply chain is presented in this paper. The methodology is equally applicable to aggregate production planning of production as well as aggregate planning Of input material supply. The proposed. Methodology determines the range of production at different times as well as calculates the production targets with least Variation in production levels between different time periods to satisfy the del-hands of each time period while Maintaining the limits of the inventory. Mathematically, it is shown that the graphical representation of the aggregate production planning problem is equivalent to the Euclidean shortest path problem in computational geometry. An algebraic procedure, based on the principles of Pinch Analysis, is applied to solve the problem. The proposed,graphical representation provides significant physical understanding of the overall aggregate production, planning problem by identifying different kinds of production bottlenecks (also known 8 pinch points). Applicability of the proposed methodology is demonstrated through illustrative examples related to energy supply, chains.