Analytical MS/OR Tools Applied to a Plant Closure

A decision was made in 1989 to shut down the microchip production plant that was being operated by Allied-Signal for the US Department of Energy. Because of long-term contractual obligations, the manufacturing operations were to be gradually phased out over several years. Management used results from time-series forecasting and linear programming models to plan the plant closure and to schedule production during the phase-out period. These analytical tools provided information and insight that resulted in improved decision making and significant cost savings.