The growing emphasis on energy efficiency and cost minimization has raised interest in integrating energy-related considerations into production scheduling. In many industrial settings, energy billing schemes consist of three elements: a fixed fee per billing cycle, a variable charge based on total energy consumption, and an additional fee related to the maximum power recorded during the billing period. While shifting production activities to periods with lower energy tariffs may reduce energy costs, this strategy frequently leads to higher peak power demands, consequently raising power-related costs and, in some cases, resulting in contractual power branches and associated penalties. This paper extends the traditional Economic Lot Scheduling Problem (ELSP) by explicitly incorporating energy- and power-related costs under time-dependent electricity pricing schemes. Building on (Beck et al. 2019), who modelled energy consumption during machine startups, shutdowns, setups, idle times, and production phases, and (Ferretti et al. 2023), who further included variable production rates and power-demand costs, the proposed model integrates limited daily facility availability and time-of-use electricity tariffs. In addition, the model accounts for alternative operational policies during non-productive periods, namely idle and shutdown modes. The resulting formulation determines a cyclic production schedule that balances setup, inventory holding, facility operating, energy, and power costs, while explicity capturing the trade-off between exploiting low-tariff periods and controlling peak power demand. Computational experiments based on benchmark data demonstrate that energy- and power-related considerations significantly impacts optimal production decisions and may lead to substantial cost reductions without compromising production efficiency. The results highlight the importance of energy- and power-aware ELSP formulations in facilitating economical and environmentally sustainable production planning.
Integrating Energy and Power Considerations into the Economic Lot Scheduling Problem under Time-Dependent Electricity Tariffs
Silvia CardiniWriting – Original Draft Preparation
;Beatrice MarchiWriting – Review & Editing
;Simone Zanoni
Writing – Review & Editing
;Ivan FerrettiWriting – Review & Editing
;Lucio E. ZavanellaWriting – Review & Editing
2026-01-01
Abstract
The growing emphasis on energy efficiency and cost minimization has raised interest in integrating energy-related considerations into production scheduling. In many industrial settings, energy billing schemes consist of three elements: a fixed fee per billing cycle, a variable charge based on total energy consumption, and an additional fee related to the maximum power recorded during the billing period. While shifting production activities to periods with lower energy tariffs may reduce energy costs, this strategy frequently leads to higher peak power demands, consequently raising power-related costs and, in some cases, resulting in contractual power branches and associated penalties. This paper extends the traditional Economic Lot Scheduling Problem (ELSP) by explicitly incorporating energy- and power-related costs under time-dependent electricity pricing schemes. Building on (Beck et al. 2019), who modelled energy consumption during machine startups, shutdowns, setups, idle times, and production phases, and (Ferretti et al. 2023), who further included variable production rates and power-demand costs, the proposed model integrates limited daily facility availability and time-of-use electricity tariffs. In addition, the model accounts for alternative operational policies during non-productive periods, namely idle and shutdown modes. The resulting formulation determines a cyclic production schedule that balances setup, inventory holding, facility operating, energy, and power costs, while explicity capturing the trade-off between exploiting low-tariff periods and controlling peak power demand. Computational experiments based on benchmark data demonstrate that energy- and power-related considerations significantly impacts optimal production decisions and may lead to substantial cost reductions without compromising production efficiency. The results highlight the importance of energy- and power-aware ELSP formulations in facilitating economical and environmentally sustainable production planning.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
