| Abstract: | Updating production plans typically is achieved by rolling the planning horizon forward one period at a time, each time including the latest information in order to determine the best course of action to pursue in the present period. Theoretical planning-horizon studies have identified the conditions by which the production decisions in the current and some specified number of future periods remain optimal given some set of future demands. Motivated by these findings, this study addresses the replanning frequency in a hierarchical production planning problem where no planning-horizon theorems are available. In this problem the aggregate production plan and the master production schedule are linked by a rolling-horizon practice. Empirical experimentation indicates that under certain cost and demand conditions the master production schedule need not be updated every period. If a schedule does not need to be updated for several periods, the schedule for these periods can be frozen to provide stability for planning components at lower levels in the bill of material of the products. The results of this study thus provide some reference for the determination of the frozen portion of the master production schedule. |
