A Comparison of Piecewise Linear Programming Formulations for the Stochastic Disassembly Line Balancing Problem
F. Tevhide Altekin
Sabancı School of Management, Sabancı University

Abstract
Recently, several mathematical programming formulations and solution approaches have been developed for the disassembly line balancing problem (DLBP) with stochastic task times. This paper aims at finding optimal solutions for the stochastic disassembly line balancing problem with the objective of minimizing the number of stations using different piecewise linear programming (PwLP) formulations. The PwLP models proposed include three convex combination formulations (CC1, CC2 and CC3) and two specially ordered sets of type 2 formulations (S1 and S2). The initial CC1 and S1 models represent the standard models of the two corresponding approaches. The latter models CC2, CC3 and S2 are provided by adopting the corresponding strengthened formulation(s) available in the literature. Two second order cone programming formulations (SOCP1 and SOCP2) are also presented and used to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the PwLP formulations. Our computational analysis over a total 240 instances demonstrates that all the presented models can be used to solve practical-sized DLBP problems to optimality using GUROBI. The SOCP2 model and the strengthened S2 and CC2 models lead to lower computation times, compared to models SOCP1, S1, CC1 and CC3, respectively. Besides analyzing the optimal solutions and the differences in computation times, insights gained from the analysis are also presented.

Short Bio
F. Tevhide Altekin is an Assistant Professor of Operations Management at Sabancı School of Management, Sabancı University. She is also currently on her sabbatical leave and visiting Department of Business Administration, METU. She received her B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Industrial Engineering from Middle East Technical University. Her main research focuses on disassembly line design, assembly line design, production planning, design of reverse logistics networks and design of after-sales networks. She teaches PhD, PMBA, MBA and undergraduate level courses in operations management, business process analysis and design, introduction to management, business simulation and data analysis, operations and decision systems, and advanced Excel for managers. She is the recipient of the second place of the Sabancı University 2011 graduating class teaching awards.

Venue
Friday, March 9, 2018 at 4.00 pm in IE03