Nonlinear programming and genetic search application for production scheduling in coal mines

Efforts to eliminate unnecessary scheduling and inventory problems faced by the coal industry today initiated the development of a generalized, nonlin ear programming model. Although no accepted methodology for developing such a model for this purpose currently exists, one was created and successfull y tested. Production and transportation cost estimates were obtained from i ndependent coal mines in Illinois, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, and based on these estimates, a hypothetical model was developed and tested using genet ic search for nonlinear optimization. The results of our tests indicate tha t the model has potential for decision support in coal mines.