Coordination of Vertically Integrated, Multi-Plant Companies: VPW

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Production and transportation control strategies for multiple plants in a vertically integrated company will be investigated, emphasizing settings with complicating factors such as setups (machine changeovers), transportation delays between plants, uncertain yields, and uncertain production lead times. The primary motivating example is the electronic industry. The goal is to develop approaches to improve coordination so as to reduce the manufacturing response time while keeping transportation and production costs low. Analytical models will be developed to study groups of complicating factors, to understand their interactions, and then to develop control strategies that encourage coordination in view of these factors. Project results will be used to appropriately adapt an existing production planning model at the host department, to account for these factors. This project addresses production control methodology for vertically integrated companies, is extremely relevant to the semiconductor and electronics industries, and has applicability to a much broader range of problems. The project furthers VPW program objectives to provide opportunities for women to advance their careers in science or engineering through research, and to encourage other women to pursue careers in these areas through the investigators' enhanced visibility as role models on the host campuses. In this project, the proposed activities which contribute to the second objective include: teaching two lecture courses (one undergraduate and one graduate), advising on projects for Master of Science students, presenting at least one guest seminar, and informal mentoring and counseling and role modeling (there are no full-time female faculty in the host department).