@misc{9229086,
  abstract     = {{This thesis addresses production planning and scheduling in sawmill operations, which involve a unique production flow characterized by both divergence and convergence. The study is conducted in collaboration with Södra Skogsägarna ekonomisk förening. Its objective is to identify existing production planning and scheduling approaches from the academic literature and to select the most suitable approach based on performance measurement. 

The study employs an operations research framework that began with defining the problem. Next, it established a framework for existing production planning and scheduling approaches relevant to sawmill processes. Then, a simulation model is developed to analyze production performance for the selected planning and scheduling approach. Four different scenarios were created, each reflecting various decoupling point positions.

The findings of this thesis apply to sawmill operations in general. The first key finding identifies the existing production planning and scheduling approaches in sawmill production, which can be classified into integrated and decomposition techniques. Based on an analysis of the benefits and drawbacks of each approach, the agent-based planning and scheduling method is chosen for its ability to break down complex problems into smaller sub-problems, thereby reducing computational complexity. Among the coordination mechanisms for agent-based planning and scheduling, the hybrid push-pull method with a decoupling point is chosen due to its suitability in reflecting the operational characteristics of the sawmill production system. The second key finding involves analyzing the impact of various decoupling points on performance measurement. This study specifically focused on how these decoupling positions affect average inventory levels. The decoupling positions are placed between three stages in the sawmill process: sawing, drying, and after-treatment. The results indicate that placing the decoupling point before the after-treatment stage yields the best performance regarding average inventory levels. This configuration employs two distinct production strategies: a push strategy before the decoupling point and a pull strategy afterward. The push strategy allows the agents to push the logs without considering demand, while the agent after the decoupling point processes the product according to customer demand. Placing the decoupling point before after-treatment enables higher average inventory levels, providing greater production flexibility by making more inventory available to adapt to varying customer demands.}},
  author       = {{Ramadhanti, Zavira and Wu, Haoyang}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Investigating Production Planning and Scheduling Approaches in Sawmill Operations}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}