Advances in mathematical programming models for enterprise-wide optimization

Enterprise-wide optimization (EWO) is an area that lies at the interface of chemical engineering and operations research, and has become a major goal in the process industries due to the increasing pressures for remaining competitive in the global marketplace. EWO involves optimizing the operations of supply, manufacturing and distribution activities of a company to reduce costs, inventories and environmental impact, and to maximize profits and responsiveness. A major focus in EWO is the optimal operation of manufacturing facilities that often require the use of nonlinear process models. Major operational items include planning, scheduling, real-time optimization and control. We provide an overview of EWO in terms of a mathematical programming framework. We first provide a brief overview of mathematical programming techniques (mixed-integer linear and nonlinear optimization methods), as well as decomposition methods, stochastic programming and modeling systems. We then address some of the major issues involved in the modeling and solution of these problems. Finally, based on the EWO program at the Center of Advanced Process Decision-making at Carnegie Mellon, we describe several applications to show the potential of this area.