IMPRESS - AN AUTOMATED PRODUCTION-PLANNING AND DELIVERY-QUOTATION SYSTEM AT HARRIS-CORPORATION - SEMICONDUCTOR SECTOR

IMPReSS, an optimization-based production planning system at Harris Co rporation's semiconductor sector, generates capacity-feasible producti on schedules for a worldwide manufacturing network and quotes product delivery dates in response to customer inquiries. The planning engine of IMPReSS is the Berkeley Planning System (BPS), which models the pro blem in a form that permits linear programming optimization. BPS embed s formulation techniques for planning the requirements of binning and substitutable products, for representing dynamic capacity consumption by reentrant process flows, and for developing multiple optimization c alculations that reflect marketing priorities. It uses a heuristic dec omposition strategy to break the overall problem into several manageab le calculations. Its implementation raised on-time deliveries of line items from 75 to 95 percent without increasing inventories, enabled th e sector to expand its markets and its market share, and helped move t he sector from a loss of $75 million to profit of over $40 million ann ually.