From CP Modeling to Preference Elicitation in HMLV Assembly Problems

Abstract

High Mix Low Volume (HMLV) assembly problems involve producing a variety of items in small quantities, each of which requires scheduling a sequence of actions performed by machines or human operators. For the production process, companies are increasingly adopting reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS) where they choose which machines to deploy. Importantly, the selection of machines can substantially influence overall production time. For this reason, we present a CP model for solving HMLV for RMS. However, solely minimizing makespan does not necessarily yield the most desirable solution from a managerial perspective. For example, it may heavily rely on human operators. Since determining preferred solutions is challenging, incorporating Decision Maker (DM) feedback becomes essential. Therefore, to support DMs in selecting solutions that better reflect their preferences, we adapt pairwise preference elicitation methods for this industrial multi-objective combinatorial problem, while also comparing with trade-off-based methods.