Low-risk bypassing of machine failure scenarios in automotive industry press shops by releasing overall capacity of the production networks

Abstract Driven by lean manufacturing and technological progresses, the heterarchic and highly interdependent press-shop production networks in the automotive industry hold heavily-reduced redundancies at machine level. In these environments, even short-term machine or tool failure carry risks that can hardly be predicted, since single sites cannot usually continue to compensate incidents autonomously. This paper introduces a new optimization model for integrated machine scheduling with logistics planning at press-shop network level. The approach enables optimal capacity utilization for overcoming machine unavailability, and supports decision management for reconfiguring short-term production plans. Furthermore, the comprehensive integration of suppliers and subcontractors within the holistic concept is illustrated.