Optimization of product mix in a knit dyeing industry

Abstract

Dye-house ISthe we! processmg unit in a Knit dyeing industry. There are mainly three type~ of fabric processed in dye-house (i e.- White fabric, Reactive dyed fabric and PC fabric). The processing method and processing time of these three products arc also different It is very important for dye-house to maintain an optimum ratio of these three products Consequence of non-optimal proportion of these three products (or product mix) will result in improper production planning, leading to a loss in output due to bottleneck problem in batch preparation section and finishing section. Nonoptimal product mix may lead to increase one type of product. This increased production of a particular type of fabric can delay the batch preparation and can also overload the finishing area causing shortage of fabric and shortage of trolley for loading and unloading the dyeing machInes. This in turn results in to delay in shipment Morcover, lfi order to mcet the deadlinc, sometimes the company has to send the container by air instead of sea, resulting in sIgnificant loss of money as well as good will of the company. This paper develops a linear programming model to overcome these problems. A comparison in terms of production volume between the current production planning approach and linear programming method presented.