A COLUMN GENERATION PROCEDURE FOR GANG-RIP SAW ARBOR DESIGN AND SCHEDULING

We present a mathematical model for scheduling a computer assisted gan g-rip saw system. Such systems are typically used within the furniture manufacturing industry for processing (ripping) lumber. This model us es the concept of column generation of linear programming to design ap propriate saw arbors, and to select a set of arbors with their corresp onding run time, in order to process a given stream of incoming lumber according to a demand schedule for finished cut widths. Results of a limited computational experiment with this model are discussed.