Modified Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling to Minimize Idle Time for Banbury Mixing Process: A Case Study in the Tire Manufacturing Industry

Abstract

The Banbury mixing process (BMP) is to supplies the specific characteristic compounds for the tire manufacturing process. Idle time in the BMP was a problem caused by the aging process between mixing steps and the limited space for processing, measured in pallets. In this study, the resource-constrained project scheduling model (RCPS) is modified in case of the objective function and the input value of resource constraint to minimize idle time (SST). The complete minimization (Cmax) is changed from minimizing the starting time of the last job to the starting time of all jobs. In addition, the non-limited resource is defined as the input for the space capacity to reduce the idle time. As the results, the SST can provide the schedule that make less 5 time periods of idle time. Moreover, when considering the relationship between mixing and aging, aging process that is scheduled from SST starts immediately comparison to Cmax that some of aging process are not. Furthermore, the effect of the quantity of pallets was also examined. Although the non-limited resource does not make any delay to the schedule but the limited quantity is not. When pallets are limited, aging jobs were significantly impacted, with the last aging pallet being delayed. To reduce delays, it prepares an adequate supply of pallets that is close to or equal to its requirement that is defined by the non-limited resource. Further research combining the scheduling of the BMP with the tire manufacturing process and more techniques to modify RCPS are applied.