Lecture V - Planning in Breweries

Applied Optimization with Julia

Author
Affiliation

Dr. Tobias Vlćek

University of Hamburg

Introduction

Case Study

Copper brewing kettles in a brewery

  • Large brewery
  • Brews and sells beverages
  • Production planning by hand
  • Planner has a lot of experience
  • But will retire soon

Challenges

Shelves with a large variety of beer bottles

  • Strong competition
  • Customer demand is changing
  • Craft beer gains popularity
  • Variety of drinks is increasing
  • Batch sizes are getting smaller

Different costs

Industrial bottling line filling beer bottles

  • Plant can fill multiple types
  • Time depends on type and batch
  • Changing type leads to setup costs for preparation and cleaning
  • Unsold beer bottles can be stored in a warehouse
  • This leads to inventory costs

Learning Objectives

After this lecture, you will be able to:

  • Formulate the Capacitated Lot-Sizing Problem (CLSP)
  • Explain the trade-off between setup and inventory holding costs
  • Recognize and construct Big-M constraints
  • Discuss the assumptions and limits of a finite planning horizon

Where is the

challenge?

Problem Structure

Objective

Overview of the lot-sizing problem: setups, batches, and inventory

Question: What could be the objective?

Minimize the combined setup and inventory holding cost while satisfying the demand and adhering to the production capacity.

Trade-Off

Overview of the lot-sizing problem: setups, batches, and inventory

Question: What is the trade-off?

Larger batches require less setup cost per bottle, but increase the storage cost.

Available Sets

Question: What are sets again?

. . .

Sets are collections of objects.

. . .

Question: What could be the sets here?

. . .

  • \(\mathcal{I}\) - Set of beer types indexed by \(i \in \{1,2,...,|\mathcal{I}|\}\)
  • \(\mathcal{T}\) - Set of time periods indexed by \(t \in \{1,2,...,|\mathcal{T}|\}\)

Available Parameters

Question: What are possible parameters?

. . .

  • \(a_t\) - Available time on the bottling plant in period \(t\in\mathcal{T}\)
  • \(b_i\) - Time used for bottling one unit of beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\)
  • \(g_i\) - Setup time for beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\)
  • \(f_i\) - Setup cost of beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\)
  • \(c_i\) - Inventory holding cost for one unit of beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\)
  • \(d_{i,t}\) - Demand of beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\) in period \(t\in\mathcal{T}\)

Decision Variables?

NoteWe have the following sets:
  • Beer types indexed by \(i \in \{1,2,...,|\mathcal{I}|\}\)
  • Time periods of the planning horizon indexed by \(t \in \{1,2,...,|\mathcal{T}|\}\)

. . .

ImportantOur objective is to:

Minimize the combined setup and inventory holding cost while satisfying the demand and adhering to the production capacity.

. . .

Question: What could be our decision variable/s?

Decision Variables

  • \(W_{i,t}\) - Inventory of type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\) at the end of \(t\in\mathcal{T}\)
  • \(Y_{i,t}\) - 1, if type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\) is bottled in \(t\in\mathcal{T}\), 0 otherwise
  • \(X_{i,t}\) - Batch size of type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\) in \(t\in\mathcal{T}\)

Model Formulation

Objective Function?

ImportantOur objective is to:

Minimize the combined setup and inventory holding cost while satisfying the demand and adhering to the production capacity.

. . .

Question: What could be our objective function?

. . .

NoteWe need the following variables:
  • \(W_{i,t}\) - Inventory of type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\) at the end of \(t\in\mathcal{T}\)
  • \(Y_{i,t}\) - 1, if type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\) is bottled in \(t\in\mathcal{T}\), 0 otherwise

Objective Function

NoteWe need the following parameters:
  • \(f_i\) - Setup cost of beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\)
  • \(c_i\) - Inventory holding cost for one unit of beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\)

. . .

\[\text{Minimize} \quad \sum_{i \in \mathcal{I}} \sum_{t \in \mathcal{T}} (c_i \times W_{i,t} + f_i \times Y_{i,t})\]

Constraints

Overview of the lot-sizing problem: setups, batches, and inventory

Question: What constraints?

  • Transfer unused inventory
  • Fulfill the customer demand
  • Set up beer types
  • Calculate batch size per set-up
  • Compute remaining inventory
  • Limit the bottling plant

Demand/Inventory Constraints?

ImportantThe goal of these constraints is to:

Consider the current inventory and batch sizes and compute the remaining inventory.

. . .

NoteWe need the following variables and parameters:
  • \(W_{i,t}\) - Inventory of beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\) at the end of period \(t\in\mathcal{T}\)
  • \(X_{i,t}\) - Batch size of beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\) in \(t\in\mathcal{T}\)
  • \(d_{i,t}\) - Demand of beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\) in period \(t\in\mathcal{T}\)

. . .

Question: What could the constraint look like?

Demand/Inventory Constraints

\[W_{i,t-1} + X_{i,t} - W_{i,t} = d_{i,t} \quad \forall i\in\mathcal{I}, t\in\mathcal{T}\]

with \(W_{i,0} = 0\), as the warehouse starts empty.

. . .

NoteRemember, these are the variables and parameters:
  • \(W_{i,t}\) - Inventory of beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\) at the end of period \(t\in\mathcal{T}\)
  • \(X_{i,t}\) - Batch size of beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\) in \(t\in\mathcal{T}\)
  • \(d_{i,t}\) - Demand of beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\) in period \(t\in\mathcal{T}\)

Why Fix the Starting Inventory?

Question: Why do we have to fix \(W_{i,0} = 0\)?

. . .

Otherwise, the solver could invent free starting inventory and would never need to bottle anything for the first weeks!

Setup Constraints?

ImportantThe goal of these constraints is to:

Set up beer types in all periods where the batch size is \(>\) 0.

. . .

NoteWe need the following variables and parameters:
  • \(Y_{i,t}\) - 1, if beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\) is bottled in period \(t\in\mathcal{T}\), 0 otherwise
  • \(X_{i,t}\) - Batch size of beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\) in \(t\in\mathcal{T}\)
  • \(d_{i,t}\) - Demand of beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\) in period \(t\in\mathcal{T}\)

. . .

Question: What could the second constraint be?

Setup Constraints

\[X_{i,t} \leq Y_{i,t} \times \sum_{\tau \in \mathcal{T}} d_{i,\tau} \quad \forall i\in\mathcal{I}, t\in\mathcal{T}\]

. . .

Question: Do you know this type of constraint?

. . .

This type of constraint is called a “Big-M” constraint!

. . .

  • M (here \(\sum_{\tau \in \mathcal{T}} d_{i,\tau}\)) is a large number
  • It is coupled with a binary variable (here \(Y_{i,t}\))
  • Like an if-then constraint

Capacity Constraints?

ImportantThe goal of these constraints is to:

Limit the capacity of the bottling plant per period.

. . .

NoteWe need the following variables and parameters:
  • \(Y_{i,t}\) - 1, if beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\) is bottled in period \(t\in\mathcal{T}\), 0 otherwise
  • \(X_{i,t}\) - Batch size of beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\) in \(t\in\mathcal{T}\)
  • \(a_t\) - Available time on the bottling plant in period \(t\in\mathcal{T}\)
  • \(b_i\) - Time used for bottling one unit of beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\)
  • \(g_i\) - Setup time for beer type \(i\in\mathcal{I}\)

Capacity Constraints

Question: What could the third constraint be?

It uses more parameters than the previous constraints, but it is easier to understand.

. . .

\[\sum_{i \in \mathcal{I}} (b_i \times X_{i,t} + g_i \times Y_{i,t}) \leq a_t \quad \forall t\in\mathcal{T}\]

. . .

And that’s basically it!

CLSP: Objective Function

The complete model is known as the Capacitated Lot-Sizing Problem (CLSP).

\[\text{Minimize} \quad \sum_{i \in \mathcal{I}} \sum_{t \in \mathcal{T}} (c_i \times W_{i,t} + f_i \times Y_{i,t})\]

ImportantThe goal of the objective function is to:

Minimize the combined setup and inventory holding cost while satisfying the demand and adhering to the production capacity.

CLSP: Constraints

\[W_{i,t-1} + X_{i,t} - W_{i,t} = d_{i,t} \quad \forall i\in\mathcal{I}, t\in\mathcal{T} \quad (W_{i,0} = 0)\]

\[X_{i,t} \leq Y_{i,t} \times \sum_{\tau \in \mathcal{T}} d_{i,\tau} \quad \forall i\in\mathcal{I}, t\in\mathcal{T}\]

\[\sum_{i \in \mathcal{I}} (b_i \times X_{i,t} + g_i \times Y_{i,t}) \leq a_t \quad \forall t\in\mathcal{T}\]

ImportantOur constraints ensure:

Demand is met, inventory transferred, setup taken care of, and capacity respected.

CLSP: Variable Domains

\[Y_{i,t}\in\{0,1\} \quad \forall i\in\mathcal{I},t\in\mathcal{T}\]

\[W_{i,t}, X_{i,t}\geq 0 \quad \forall i\in\mathcal{I},t\in\mathcal{T}\]

ImportantThe variable domains make sure that:

The binary setup variable is either 0 or 1 and that the inventory and batch size are non-negative.

. . .

Question: Why is a continuous batch size acceptable here?

. . .

At this scale, rounding a batch of thousands of bottles changes the cost only marginally.

Julia Implementation

Variables in Julia

Question: How could we formulate the variables in Julia?

. . .

using JuMP, HiGHS
beer_types = ["IPA", "Lager", "Stout"] # Beer types
periods = 1:3 # Time periods (weeks)
clsp_model = Model(HiGHS.Optimizer)
set_silent(clsp_model) # Hide the solver output

. . .

@variable(clsp_model, Y[i in beer_types, t in periods], Bin)
@variable(clsp_model, X[i in beer_types, t in periods] >= 0)
@variable(clsp_model, W[i in beer_types, t in 0:last(periods)] >= 0)
2-dimensional DenseAxisArray{JuMP.VariableRef,2,...} with index sets:
    Dimension 1, ["IPA", "Lager", "Stout"]
    Dimension 2, 0:3
And data, a 3×4 Matrix{JuMP.VariableRef}:
 W[IPA,0]    W[IPA,1]    W[IPA,2]    W[IPA,3]
 W[Lager,0]  W[Lager,1]  W[Lager,2]  W[Lager,3]
 W[Stout,0]  W[Stout,1]  W[Stout,2]  W[Stout,3]

. . .

Note, how we declare the inventory \(W\) also for period 0!

Objective Function in Julia

\[\text{Minimize} \quad \sum_{i \in \mathcal{I}} \sum_{t \in \mathcal{T}} (c_i \times W_{i,t} + f_i \times Y_{i,t})\]

. . .

c = Dict("IPA" => 0.1, "Lager" => 0.1, "Stout" => 0.1) # Holding costs
f = Dict("IPA" => 5000, "Lager" => 4000, "Stout" => 6000) # Setup costs

. . .

@objective(clsp_model, Min,
    sum(c[i] * W[i,t] + f[i] * Y[i,t]
        for i in beer_types, t in periods)
)

Data for our Small Brewery

We need the demand \(d_{i,t}\), capacity \(a_t\), and times \(b_i\), \(g_i\):

. . .

d = Dict( # Demand per beer type and week
    "IPA"   => [300, 800, 500],
    "Lager" => [600, 500, 800],
    "Stout" => [200, 300, 250],
)
a = [1800, 1800, 1800] # Capacity per week in minutes
b = Dict("IPA" => 0.9, "Lager" => 0.6, "Stout" => 1.2) # Min. per bottle
g = Dict("IPA" => 60, "Lager" => 40, "Stout" => 80) # Setup in minutes

Constraints in Julia

The constraints map almost one-to-one from the math:

. . .

@constraint(clsp_model, [i in beer_types],
    W[i,0] == 0) # The warehouse starts empty
@constraint(clsp_model, [i in beer_types, t in periods],
    W[i,t-1] + X[i,t] - W[i,t] == d[i][t])

. . .

@constraint(clsp_model, [i in beer_types, t in periods],
    X[i,t] <= sum(d[i]) * Y[i,t]) # Big-M setup constraint
@constraint(clsp_model, [t in periods],
    sum(b[i] * X[i,t] + g[i] * Y[i,t] for i in beer_types) <= a[t])

Solving the Model

optimize!(clsp_model)
println("Status: ", termination_status(clsp_model))
println("Total cost: ", objective_value(clsp_model))
Status: OPTIMAL
Total cost: 28130.0

. . .

Of the 28,130 total cost, 28,000 are setup costs and only 130 are inventory holding costs — but what does the plan look like?

The Production Plan

for i in beer_types
    println(rpad(i, 8),
        "X = ", rpad(string([round(Int, value(X[i,t])) for t in periods]), 18),
        "W = ", [round(Int, value(W[i,t])) for t in periods])
end
IPA     X = [300, 1300, 0]    W = [0, 500, 0]
Lager   X = [600, 500, 800]   W = [0, 0, 0]
Stout   X = [750, 0, 0]       W = [550, 250, 0]

. . .

  • Stout is bottled only once: week 1 covers all three weeks, saving two setups at 6,000 each
  • Lager is bottled every week, as the plant capacity is too tight to batch it
  • IPA batches the demand of week 3 into week 2

Model Characteristics

Recap on some Basics

There exist several types of optimization problems:

  • Linear (LP): Linear constraints and objective function
  • Mixed-integer (MIP): Linear constraints and objective function, but discrete variable domains
  • Quadratic (QP): Quadratic constraints and/or objective
  • Non-linear (NLP): Non-linear constraints and/or objective
  • And more!

Recap on Solution Algorithms

  • Simplex algorithm to solve LPs
  • Branch & Bound to solve MIPs
  • Outer-Approximation for mixed-integer NLPs
  • Matheuristics (e.g., Fix-and-Optimize, …)
  • Metaheuristics (e.g., tabu search, genetic algorithms, …)
  • Decomposition methods (Lagrange, Benders, …)
  • Heuristics (greedy, construction method, n-opt, …)
  • Graph theoretical methods (network flow, shortest path)

Model Characteristics

Questions: On model characteristics

  • Is the model formulation linear/ non-linear?
  • What kind of variable domains do we have?
  • What kind of solver could we use?
  • Can the Big-M constraint be tightened?

Tightening the Big-M

Question: How small can we make M without cutting off solutions?

. . .

  • Production in period \(t\) only serves demand from \(t\) onward: \(M_{i,t} = \sum_{\tau \in \mathcal{T} | \tau \geq t} d_{i,\tau}\)
  • Capacity limits a batch as well: \(M_{i,t} = (a_t - g_i)/b_i\)

. . .

The smaller of the two is the tighter bound — and tighter formulations are usually solved faster!

Model Assumptions

Questions: On model assumptions

  • What assumptions have we made?
  • What is the problem with the planning horizon?
  • Any idea how to solve it?

. . .

TipEnd-of-horizon effect

The model plans no inventory for demand after week \(|\mathcal{T}|\), as it does not know about it. In practice, this is solved by re-planning on a rolling horizon.

Impact

Can this be

applied?

Scale as a Problem

Solving the problem with commercial solvers is not tractable, as it takes too long.

Scale of the Case Study

  • 220 finished products
  • 100 semi-finished products
  • 13 production resources
  • 8 storage resources
  • 3 main production levels
  • 52 weeks planning horizon

. . .

Our CLSP is the single-level core of this problem — the real case is multi-level, with semi-finished products and storage resources.

Any idea what

could be done?

Heuristics and Optimization

  • Multi-level Capacitated Lot-Sizing Problem
  • Heuristic fix and optimize approach 1
  • Operating cost reduction by 5% and planning effort by 40%

. . .

NoteAnd that’s it for today’s lecture!

We now have covered the basics of the CLSP and are ready to start solving some tasks in the upcoming tutorial.

Questions?

Literature

Literature

For more interesting literature to learn more about Julia, take a look at the literature list of this course.

References

Mickein, Markus, Matthes Koch, and Knut Haase. 2022. “A Decision Support System for Brewery Production Planning at Feldschlösschen.” INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics 52 (2): 158–72.

Footnotes

  1. Mickein et al. (2022)↩︎