Application of Goal Programming to Reduce Environmental Impact of Machining Processes
 
 

Nilesh Soni | MS | 1997

While manufacturing industry is focussed on better production values, very little importance is given to the impact of the product and its associated manufacturing activities on the environment. To facilitate environmentally concious manufacturing and to support manufacturing decision making, the industry needs assistance in the form of technology and knowledge, tools, and support systems. Developing a comprehensive methodology or tool for environmental evaluation of a product is an arduous task. The most effective way is to tackle the environmental concerns individually according to the point at which they occur in the product cycle.

The focus of this research work is on the manufacturing activity with emphasis on machining operations. Under this project a software based decision making tool has been developed to incorporate environmental issues in manufacturing planning and to predict the waste streams emanating from the process. The first step was to integrate models that characterize and quantify the waste streams. The waste streams from machining operations have been categorized into four types. They are: material stream (from the stock/work), energy stream, tooling stream, and catalyst (cutting fluid) stream. The next step was to develop and apply an operation planning methodology to optimize the operation. Teh Goal Programming approach was adopted for this purpose.

A hypothetical case study was done to demonstrate the application of the decision support system. Sensitivity analysis presents the influence of the decision variables on the performance of the process.

If you have any comments or suggestions please e-mail jwsuther@mtu.edu.