Grant: Alliance Grants
Cape Breton University
$20,027.00
Optimization and Simulation Studies of a Production System for Ventilators to Mitigate Challenges of COVID-19 Pandemic_x000d_ _x000d_ _x000d_
FY 2020-21
Summary
Protocase Incorporated is a manufacturing company in Sydney, NS Canada that produces custom-made and designed electronic enclosures and sheet metal components. After the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, Protocase decided to manufacture ventilators to play a role in mitigating the challenges caused by this pandemic including the shortage of vital medical equipment to save Canadians' lives. The goal of this study is to simulate Protocase's supply chain and conduct simulations for different production scenarios, given the uncertainties in the procurement and production systems, to estimate outputs for different production capacities. Some parts that are needed to produce a ventilator will be produced by Protocase, and some parts will be imported through their supply chain.
To consider the uncertainty associated with delay in shipments, probability distributions will be explored to define the arrival pattern of the components to the production system as well as the production time. Given that the demand for ventilators is uncertain, methods of stochastic programming and queueing theory will be used to analyse the uncertain system and mixed integer linear programming will be applied to obtain optimal solutions. Triangle fuzzy numbers will be considered to present costs given the uncertainty in components' prices. Finally, we use various methods to solve the integer linear programming problems, such as cutting plane, Branch-and-Bound, relaxation and decomposition methods. Upon the completion of this project, Protocase will be able to make informed decisions about optimal allocation of their resources to produce different number of ventilators in a time interval given the uncertainties in their procurement process and production system. The outcome of this project not only will help Protocase play a crucial role in mitigating the challenges of a global and national pandemic, but also will enable Canada to have a global impact by becoming a potential supplier for a vital equipment which can also bring economic benefits to Canada.
Program
Alliance Grants
Recipient
Location
Nova Scotia, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
555178-2020
Name nom
Chen, Shaohua
Department département
Mathematics, Physics and Geology
Organization id
84
Institution établissement
Cape Breton University
Province en
Nova Scotia
Province fr
Nouvelle-Écosse
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2020
Competition year année de concours
2020
Award amount
20027
Program id
ALLRP
Program name en
Alliance Grants
Program name fr
Subventions Alliance
Group en
Research partnerships programs
Group fr
Programmes de partenariat
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
405
Area of application group en
Environment
Area of application group fr
Environnement
Area of application en
Modelling and mathematical simulation of natural processes
Area of application fr
Modélisation et simulation mathématique des processus naturels
Research subject code
2960
Research subject group en
Applied mathematics
Research subject group fr
Mathématiques appliquées
Research subject en
Mathematical modelling
Research subject fr
Modélisation mathématique
Installment
inst:1 - 1
Partie
1
Nb partie
1
Application title
Optimization and Simulation Studies of a Production System for Ventilators to Mitigate Challenges of COVID-19 Pandemic_x000d_
_x000d_
_x000d_
Keyword
NSERC
Application summary
Protocase Incorporated is a manufacturing company in Sydney, NS Canada that produces custom-made and designed electronic enclosures and sheet metal components. After the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, Protocase decided to manufacture ventilators to play a role in mitigating the challenges caused by this pandemic including the shortage of vital medical equipment to save Canadians' lives. The goal of this study is to simulate Protocase's supply chain and conduct simulations for different production scenarios, given the uncertainties in the procurement and production systems, to estimate outputs for different production capacities. Some parts that are needed to produce a ventilator will be produced by Protocase, and some parts will be imported through their supply chain.
To consider the uncertainty associated with delay in shipments, probability distributions will be explored to define the arrival pattern of the components to the production system as well as the production time. Given that the demand for ventilators is uncertain, methods of stochastic programming and queueing theory will be used to analyse the uncertain system and mixed integer linear programming will be applied to obtain optimal solutions. Triangle fuzzy numbers will be considered to present costs given the uncertainty in components' prices. Finally, we use various methods to solve the integer linear programming problems, such as cutting plane, Branch-and-Bound, relaxation and decomposition methods. Upon the completion of this project, Protocase will be able to make informed decisions about optimal allocation of their resources to produce different number of ventilators in a time interval given the uncertainties in their procurement process and production system. The outcome of this project not only will help Protocase play a crucial role in mitigating the challenges of a global and national pandemic, but also will enable Canada to have a global impact by becoming a potential supplier for a vital equipment which can also bring economic benefits to Canada.
