Mathematical Modeling and a Hybrid NSGA-II Algorithm for Process Planning Problem Considering Machining Cost and Carbon Emission

Process planning is an important function in a manufacturing system; it specifies the manufacturing requirements and details for the shop floor to convert a part from raw material to the finished form. However, considering only economical criterion with technological constraints is not enough in sustainable manufacturing practice; formerly, criteria about low carbon emission awareness have seldom been taken into account in process planning optimization. In this paper, a mathematical model that considers both machining costs reduction as well as carbon emission reduction is established for the process planning problem. However, due to various flexibilities together with complex precedence constraints between operations, the process planning problem is a non-deterministic polynomial-time (NP) hard problem. Aiming at the distinctive feature of the multi-objectives process planning optimization, we then developed a hybrid non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA)-II to tackle this problem. A local search method that considers both the total cost criterion and the carbon emission criterion are introduced into the proposed algorithm to avoid being trapped into local optima. Moreover, the technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) method is also adopted to determine the best solution from the Pareto front. Experiments have been conducted using Kim’s benchmark. Computational results show that process plan schemes with low carbon emission can be captured, and, more importantly, the proposed hybrid NSGA-II algorithm can obtain more promising optimal Pareto front than the plain NSGA-II algorithm. Meanwhile, according to the computational results of Kim’s benchmark, we find that both of the total machining cost and carbon emission are roughly proportional to the number of operations, and a process plan with less operation may be more satisfactory. This study will draw references for the further research on green manufacturing in the process planning level.