A graphical user interface for batch process planning and scheduling

In the recent years, optimal batch process scheduling gained popularity due to major, developments in flexible manufacturing systems and computer technology. Enhancements on flexible manufacturing systems favored multi-purpose and multi-product plants, which are mostly batchwise operated. Optimal planning and scheduling of processing equipment is an essential issue in benefiting fully from advantage that multi-product and multi-purpose batch plants offer. However, the optimal planning and scheduling models have very complex and difficult structure that requires an engineer with a comprehensive knowledge of optimization to maintain. The major difficulties arise when transferring the available plant data. Furthermore, the results obtained by the model should again be converted to or presented in a form such that a shift operator can follow or a manager can interpret depending upon the requester. Hence, in this work, a graphical user interface is designed and implemented to overcome such difficulties, as well as supporting distributed computing and user leverage for the model suggested by Orcun et. al (1996), revised and extended in Orcun (1999) for the optimal scheduling of batch process plants.