Proposal of a mathematical model for production optimization. An application in the brick industry of San Jose of Cucuta

Abstract

The ceramic sector of Northern Santander seeks to satisfy the growing demand for clay-based construction products. For this, the use of linear programming is considered, which serves as support to improve operational efficiency in the manufacturing of its products, finding optimal solutions in planning problems.

To achieve optimal production, a linear programming mathematical model was used as a key optimization tool. The process begins with a diagnosis that involves direct observation and data collection through office tools. Subsequently, a mathematical model is developed based on real data to evaluate the performance of the process, using productivity indicators. Process parameters are adjusted to achieve ideal satisfaction. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is performed in several scenarios to determine the best optimization approach and the application of these results are modeled under a FlexSim academic license simulator that gives us the opportunity to adopt a global approach oriented towards improvement, as a efficiency in terms of the ability to satisfy the needs in the ceramic sector.

It was possible to find an ideal model to satisfy the demand of the company under study and after that the formulation of an optimal model was considered, taking advantage of the maximum exploitation of a capacity restriction and increasing the resources of the maximum exploitation of a capacity restriction and increasing the resource of the demand proposed by the current market. It is considered that the optimal model will serve as a scope reference for the company to know what demand it can achieve by exploiting its maximum capacity, without using cost overruns such as using new machinery on the production line or acquiring more personnel to satisfy the growth in demand.