Solving the graph coloring problem for a hybrid make-to-stock/make-to-order production system

Hybrid make-to-stock (MTS)/make-to-order (MTO) production systems are one of the most flexible systems widely used by industries nowadays. Because products can either be customized based on the demand’s requirements, or be delivered directly from stock. In such systems, there are many problems inside the production line needs to be investigated. One of which, is prioritizing the products and solving the conflicts among workstations. One of the useful approaches is the graph rewriting systems, which transforms the whole production system into a graph and then we will be able to analyze through effective instruments like graph coloring.In this paper we develop a graph coloring algorithm able to detect the conflicts among the workstations, define prioritization rules, and consequently, solve the conflicts. The results of the proposed heuristic algorithm shows the superiority of our approach in comparison with the other presented methods in the literature.

Keywords:

Production systems , graph coloring , Hybrid MTS/MTO , Heuristic algorithm