A Multiple-criteria Approach to Dynamic Cold-ingot Substitution
针对钢铁厂热钢不足时需用冷锭替代的问题，开发了一个基于多准则和优先级的计算机系统，通过给冷锭分配惩罚值并排序来选择最优冷锭，提高了产量并降低了物料处理成本。
Bethlehem Steel's plant at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania uses a computer-based mill-providing procedure to plan ingot requirements for the production of structural shapes and pilings. When not enough hot steel is available to meet all the ingot requirements, cold steel ingots from inventory must be substituted in order to meet the production plan. A computer system was developed that dynamically selects cold ingots to use when hot steel is not available. This system selects cold ingots based first on ingot-selection priorities, and secondly, within priorities, on several criteria. An approach was developed that assigns a penalty to each feasible cold ingot such that the priorities and multiple criteria are addressed by simply ranking the ingots based on their penalty values. Ingots are selected from the top of the ranked list, and the results are consistently acceptable to the steel-providers at the Bethlehem plant. The system improves yield and reduces material-handling costs.