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

这项卓越研究（EiR）奖将通过研究移动制造设施的有效运作，为促进国家繁荣和经济福利做出贡献。移动制造是一种新兴的模式，它允许生产模块通过车辆运输到需求地点，从而减少成本和交付时间。这一模式已被建议用于各种专门应用，包括为应对空间疾病爆发而制造疫苗，以及为修复受损设备而制造战场或舰载备件。该项目解决了移动制造的关键支持方面，即如何有效地配置支持供应链和装配过程。在这种新模式中，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制造运输顺序聘请不同的供应商。本研究将建立一个明确纳入物料配送物流的供应链网络设计与装配规划决策框架。PI将采用最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，以安排原材料交付到不同供应商的子组件。第二个将考虑车辆路线问题，用于从供应商到移动制造商运输组件的卡车的分配。pi将研究新的计算方法来解决这些困难的优化问题。一个使用微流控设备生产生物疗法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的移动“盒子工厂”。该项目将涉及当地机构工程系统高级分析教育项目的开发，并将为少数民族研究生提供高级教育和培训，并为本科生提供暑期研究。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识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.