Excellence in Research: Reconfigurable Supply Chain Network Design and Assembly Planning for Factory-in-a-Box Manufacturing

该卓越研究奖将通过研究移动的制造设施的高效运营，为国家繁荣和经济福利的进步做出贡献。 移动的制造是一种新兴的模式，允许生产模块由车辆运输到需求地点，从而降低了交付成本和时间。 有人建议将这一模式用于各种专门应用，包括应对空间疾病爆发的疫苗制造，以及用于修复受损设备的战场或船上备件制造。 该项目解决了移动的制造的一个关键方面，即如何有效地配置支持供应链和装配过程。 在这种新的模式中，供应商将需要在不同的时间交付到不同的制造地点，这可能需要根据移动的制造运输顺序来雇用不同的供应商。本研究将建立一个供应链网络设计和装配规划的决策框架，明确纳入物流的材料交付。 PI将采用优化方法来研究两个子问题。 第一个将考虑一个机器调度问题，安排原材料交付给不同的供应商。 第二个将考虑车辆路径问题的分配卡车的运输从供应商的移动的制造商。 PI将研究新的计算方法来解决这些困难的优化问题。 使用微流体设备生产生物治疗剂的测试平台将使本科生和研究生有机会开发一个工作硬件和软件移动的“盒子里的工厂”。 该项目将涉及在当地机构开发工程系统高级分析的教育计划，并将为少数民族研究生提供高级教育和培训，以及为本科生提供暑期研究。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Excellence in Research (EiR) award will contribute to the advancement of national prosperity and economic welfare by studying efficient operations of mobile manufacturing facilities. Mobile manufacturing is an emerging paradigm that allows for production modules to be transported by vehicles to demand locations, thus reducing both the cost and time of delivery. This paradigm has been suggested for diverse, specialized applications, including vaccine manufacturing to respond to spatial disease outbreaks and battlefield or ship-board spare parts manufacturing to repair damaged equipment. This project addresses a critical enabling aspect of mobile manufacturing, namely how to effectively configure the supporting supply chain and assembly process. In this new paradigm, suppliers will need to deliver to different manufacturing locations at different times, which may necessitate engaging different suppliers depending on the mobile manufacturing transport sequence. This research will build a decision-making framework for supply chain network design and assembly planning explicitly incorporating the logistics of materials delivery. The PI will employ optimization methods to study two subproblems. The first will consider a Machine Scheduling Problem to schedule raw material delivery to subassemblies at different suppliers. The second will consider a Vehicle Routing Problem for the assignment of trucks for transport of the subassemblies from suppliers to the mobile manufacturer. The PIs will investigate new computational approaches to these difficult optimization problems. A test platform for production of biological therapeutics using microfluidic devices will allow undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to develop a working hardware and software mobile "factory-in-a-box". The project will involve development of educational programs in advanced analytics for engineering systems at the local institution and will provide advanced education and training for minority graduate students as well as summer research for undergraduate students.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.