Wc. Suter et Ja. Calloway, ROUGH MILL POLICIES AND PRACTICES EXAMINED BY A MULTIPLE-CRITERIA GOAL PROGRAM CALLED ROMGOP, Forest products journal, 44(10), 1994, pp. 19-28
A rough mill linear programming formulation called OPTIGRAMI (OPTImum
GRade MIx) generates an optimal least cost solution. However. it canno
t easily reconcile multiple-conflicting, incommensurate goals. In gene
ral, a major weakness of linear programming is that its objective func
tion is unidimensional and only one unit measure can be minimized or m
aximezed at a time. In the case of OPTIGRAMI, cost is minimized, but p
roblems arise when planners want to minimize such things as the impact
of overcrowding due to excessive work-in-process inventory, customer
dissatisfaction due to missed deadlines, and the inconvenience of prod
uction interruptions due to lumber expediting to make up for shortfall
s. This paper reviews the research leading up to and through rough mil
l optimization research and then puts forth ROMGOP (ROugh Mill GOal Pr
ogramming) as an alternative optimizing technique. Even though a less
than complete database was used to develop the technique, an example o
f how goal programming can be used as a rough mill planning tool is pr
esented. To conclude, several rough mill policies are examined from a
goal programming perspective to show the potential impact of rough mil
l planning from a multiple-criteria viewpoint.