Pits Simulation for Production Planning

Simulation techniques are used to study a deterministic problem in the aluminium industry. Mathematical methods alone are inadequate to solve this scheduling problem. Three segments are connected: 1) simulation model, 2) optimization with dynamic programming, and 3) sorting, heuristic, and manual treatments. The economical function is the cost of electrical energy consumed. With dynamic programming the energy consumption of the soaking pits is optimized by using simplified hypotheses. Simulation allows one to adapt mathematical results to the real process. The same simulation model was used during the analysis period and, repetitively, during the operational period.