Representation of a mold with 6 cavities. Mold

Contexts in source publication

Context 1

... machines make sand molds (mold stamping) in which alloys are poured to produce the items. The output of a mold, called as tree, often comprises several items of the same type (originated from the cavities of the mold) and scraps (originated from the connections between cavities) as illustrated in Figure 2. Each mold type produces one specific item type (typically more than one unit), and each item type is produced by exactly one mold type. ...

Context 2

... discarded items together with the scrap removed from the trees are used as raw materials for production in the next periods (deburring stage). For example, the expected production using the tree showed in Figure 2 would be 6 pieces, however according to the production history there might be losses of more than 10% of this production due the quality control. These losses impact the overall efficiency and should be taken into account in the planning The problem consists of determining which and how many items to produce as well as when and how they should be produced, considering their daily internal and external demands over a time horizon, the available furnaces and production lines with their capacities, processing times and availabilities, while minimizing the number of items in inventory and number of furnace setups. ...