Integrating Shelf Life Constraints in Capacitated Lot Sizing and Scheduling for Perishable Products

Abstract

In this study, we consider a multi-item capacitated lot sizing and scheduling problem for perishable food products, which have a fixed shelf life period due to depreciation issues, such as physical deterioration or perceived value loss. We incorporate shelf life constraints within a classical lot sizing and scheduling problem that considers lot sizing and partial sequencing of production on a single machine over a finite planning horizon associated with demand in each period. The model includes setup times and setup costs. Moreover, it considers that disposal occurs when products reach their shelf life in inventory. We present two variants of this lot sizing and scheduling problem integrating shelf life constraints and also with and without disposal. We test the performance of the proposed formulations on a set of instances from the literature.