Overview of planning and scheduling of batch process operations

Batch production is used for the manufacture of fine chemicals and is particularly appropriate when production quantities are small, or when the procedure or the product demand is likely to change. Batch processes are usually carried out in relatively standard items of equipment whose operating conditions can be adjusted to accommodate a variety of products. Plants for batch operations can be arranged as multiproduct, multipurpose under campaign mode and general multipurpose. In this study, all the three types of batch plants are examined under planning and scheduling. Planning stage is the macrolevel where the problem is outlined and scheduling stage is the microlevel where the production lines are set and the batch sizes determined within the given time horizons to satisfy the product demands. These three problems are examined under different objective functions. Copyright (C) 1998 IFAC.