A multi period fuzzy production planning and sourcing problem with service level constraints

In this paper, we consider a multiperiod fuzzy production and sourcing problem that a manufacturer has a number of plants and subcontractors. The manufacturer has to meet the products demand according to the service level requirements set by its customers. The demand for each product in each period is assumed to be a fuzzy variable. Since the proposed model is too complex that the conventional optimization methods cannot be used. To solve the problem, a heuristic solution method, which combines approximation method, genetic algorithm (GA) and neural network (NN), is proposed. We provide a numerical example to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the designed algorithm.