A decision support system for color-coating line in steel industry

A color coating line (CCL) processes galvanized coils with color coats, it subjects to many constraints and multi-objective are pursued when scheduled. We describe the production background of the color coating line and introduce two scheduling problems, inventory coils oriented scheduling problem (ICOSP) and online coils oriented scheduling problem (OCOSP). Online coils are coils that will be processed on CCL and lie in finishing steel making area. A decision support system for the scheduling problem is described. The system aims to assist planners to make schedules for the problems. Steps of schedule generation are described. Necessary flexibility is fully taken in consideration and a schedule edit system (SES) which allows planners to edit schedule is presented. The comparisons between manual scheduling and decision support system are given. Numerical results indicate that the system leads to better schedule in limited computation time. The decision support system is currently in use in Baosteel Complex.