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Case study - Optimization for Process Industry Supply
Chains
In the USD 6 trillion process industry, the
only way to stay ahead of your competitors is to refine your
process to be the most effective and cost efficient in the
market. Process manufacturers, including refineries, chemical,
and pharmaceutical companies, look to AspenTechnologies' products
and expertise to help them streamline raw material procurement,
increase operations efficiency, and manage their supply chains.
Problem
To solve the challenging Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) problems
contained in process manufacturing problems, Aspen Tech uses
Dash Optimization's Xpress-MP Optimizer. This component is
embedded in Aspen MIMI and powers numerous Aspen e-Supply
Chain solutions.
One recent problem that these technologies were
applied to was AspenTech's Semiconductor Planner. This was
created to monitor and optimize the production of semiconductors
from wafer production through device and module production
until the final card production. This type of problem is challenging
in many ways; very complex manufacturing flows, long variable
cycle times, unstable demand, and short product life cycle.
Solution
AspenTech's Semiconductor Planner:
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Decides the minimum silicon
wafer production to meet all demands |
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Allocates demands across production
to make best use of existing inventory and WIP |
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Minimizes new batch starts |
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Satisfies minimum lot-size
requirement |
These problems typically have over 86,000 variables,
60,000 equations, and 196,000 non-zeros. Using Dash's Parallel
MIP Optimizer to distribute the calculations over 4 different
CPUs, AspenTech was able to decrease the solution time in
one such instance from 254 seconds to 100 seconds.
About Aspen Technologies
Aspen Technologies is an international company with headquarters
in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In fiscal year 2001, Aspen Tech
had revenues of USD 310.6 million with a 1-year sales growth
rate of 15.9%. Half of these sales are from outside the US.
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