Abstract. Roll-on/Roll-off (RoRo) ships represent the primary source for transporting vehicles and other types of rolling material over long distances. In this paper we focus on operational decisions related to stowage of cargoes for a RoRo ship voyage visiting a given set of loading and unloading ports. By focusing on stowage on one deck on board the ship, this can be viewed as a special version of a 2-dimensional packing problem with a number of additional considerations, such as one wants to place vehicles that belong to the same shipment close to each other to ease the loading and unloading. Another important aspect of this problem is shifting, which means temporarily moving some vehicles to make an entry/exit route for the vehicles that are to be loaded/unloaded at the given port. We present several versions of a new mixed integer programming (MIP) formulation for the problem. Computational results show that the model provides good solutions on small sized problem instances.

In this paper, we propose a mixed integer programming (MIP) model for the Chicken Flock Sizing, Allocation and Scheduling Problem (CFSASP), which is an important planning problem in the broiler production supply chain. To solve the CFSASP efficiently, two variants of rolling horizon heuristics (RHHs) have been developed and applied on the case of a Norwegian broiler production company. Computational results show that the RHHs successfully obtain high-quality solutions within a reasonable time. The value of optimisation is verified through comparison with the case company's plans, where the solutions from optimisation outperforms the current solutions. Sensitivity analyses are also conducted to provide managerial insights regarding certain strategic decisions, such as how many and which days to use for hatching of chickens. Due to the promising results, the case company is now implementing an optimisation-based decision support system based on the MIP model and solution methods shown in this paper.

Abstract. Roll-on Roll-off shipping companies transport rolling cargo, such as cars, trucks and large construction machines. When sailing, this type of cargo must be attached to the deck using chains, to prevent damaging the cargo. For each voyage including multiple port calls where the cargo is loaded/unloaded, an important decision is to decide where to place each vehicle (or unit), such that the time used on shifting is minimized. Shifting means temporarily moving some vehicles to make an entry/exit route for the vehicles that are to be loaded/unloaded at a given port. As the vehicles are securely fastened to the deck, shifting is a time-consuming procedure. We present the stowage plan evaluation problem which is to determine the optimal vehicles to shift at each port call, such that the time spent on shifting is minimized. Given a set of alternative stowage plans for a voyage, the results from the stowage plan evaluation problems are used to determine the best among these stowage plans. We present a shortest path based heuristic for solving the problem. Computational results show that the solution method is a powerful tool for comparing stowage plans, due to its fast computing times and high success rate, i.e. its ability to determine the better of two stowage plans.

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Aktuelle Rückmeldedaten und eine effiziente Betriebsdatenerfassung werden im Zeitalter von Industrie 4.0 immer wichtiger. Daher haben sich führende deutsche produktionstechnische Forschungsinstitute im Bereich der Produktionsplanung und -steuerung zur Ausarbeitung einer gemeinsamen Studie zusammengeschlossen, um Handlungsbedarfe zu identifizieren. Ein wesentliches Ergebnis der Umfrage ist, dass besonders die kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen (KMU) noch Handlungsbedarf hinsichtlich ihrer Ausstattung mit Informationstechnologie (IT)-Systemen sowie deren Nutzung haben.   In “Industrie 4.0“, up-to-date production-related data and efficient data acquisition processes are of paramount importance. Therefore, the four leading German institutes of production technology in the field of production planning and control have conducted a survey in order to explore the state of the art and necessary research fields. In particular small and medium sized enterprises need to consider IT investments for taking advantage of production-related data in Industrie 4.0.