Short-term scheduling of multipurpose pipeless plants

The manufacturing sector is facing constant new challenges due to the global economy and is quickly adapting to new technologies to improve its profitability by producing multiple products in multipurpose machines. In this quest, the concept of pipeless plants has evolved which offers a potential alternative for small and medium scale industries through flexible production recipes. In contrast to traditional plants, in pipeless plants material is transferred and held in mobile vessels moving between different processing stations meant for performing typical operations such as charging, mixing, heating, cooling, discharging, cleaning and so on as shown in Figure 3.1. Pipeless plants offer several advantages compared to traditional plants in terms of convenience in cleaning and maintenance. Pipeless plants can be used in many applications such as manufacturing of lubricants, paints, adhesives, food products, pharmaceuticals, and fine chemicals.