CAPACITY AND PRODUCT MIX PLANNING PROBLEM FOR TFT ARRAY MULTI-PLANT

Abstract

ABSTRACT This research focuses on the strategic capacity and product mix planning problems in Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD) Panel Industry. A capacity and product mix planning decision model for TFT Array multi-plant is proposed according to TFT-LCD panel industry environment. Capacity and product mix planning problems for TFT Array multi-plant are resource allocation problems. Product mix and production quantity for each product group produced in a specific plant are decided on capacity and product mix planning. In the planning, the objective is maximum contribution margin. And, we consider many constraints to obtain the capacity and product mix plan, such as material utilization, production capacity, production capability, production variable costs, and inventory-driven costs for each product group produced in a specific plant. Furthermore, we use capacity and product mix planning to balanced the difference between total supply capacity and total demand forecast. If total supply capacity is smaller than total demand forecast, we evaluate the feasibility to expand production capacity. On the other hand, we suggest increasing production quantity in over-supply plant. We propose a methodology to solve capacity and product mix planning problems for TFT Array multi-plant. There are three phases in the methodology, including (1) capacity configuration, (2) capacity expansion, and (3) capacity exploitation. In the first phase, we allocate production capacity in each plant to produce a suit product mix set. If demand forecast is greater than supply capacity for a specific product group, we evaluate the feasibility to expand production capacity in the second phase. In the third phase, we suggest best additional production quantity of the profitable product group to exploit the remained capacity adequately.