Towards green automated production line with rotary transfer and turrets: a multi-objective approach using a binary scatter tabu search procedure

Abstract

This paper deals with a much less contemplated topic of carbon footprint (CFP) reduction in automated machining lines. A multi-objective problem for the simultaneous optimisation of line cost and carbon footprint while satisfying all the constraints of an automated production line with rotary transfer and turrets is presented. A framework for accounting and reduction of CFP and, hence, the energy consumption of the production line is put forward. This framework investigates the environmental impact of greenhouse gas emitted and energy consumed by the system-level processes during the machining and non-machining operations. Moreover, a binary scatter tabu search process for multi-objective optimisation (BSSPMO), a meta-heuristic based on scatter and tabu search procedure, is used for approximating the efficient frontier. To demonstrate the validation of the proposed approach, a case study is presented, and the numerical results are analysed. Though the trade-off between line cost and CFP is not a perfect Pareto, but it gives a very important conclusion about the trend of how these two critical parameters varies and the range in which it can be controlled.