Bicriteria food packaging process optimization in double-layered upright and diagonal multihead weighers

Abstract

[EN] Double-layered multihead weighing machines contain twice the number of hoppers as present in a simple machine with the same number of heads, which enables additional objective optimization possibilities considering the increased number of combinations among hoppers. This research study deals with bicriteria optimization for double-layered upright and diagonal machines using brute force as the optimization criteria. One of the optimization objectives is related to the target weight; the target weight must be at least and as close as possible to the weight to pack. Furthermore, this study also aims to minimize the time for which a certain portion of a product remains in the hopper while waiting to be selected for package formation. This time is known as priority and is measured based on the number of iterations or the number of packages produced by the machine while the hopper waits to be discharged. For these purposes, Different strategies were tested for both machines, which simultaneously optimize the target weight and the priority of the hoppers, showing the reduction of the extraction of the process in addition to reducing the costs of excess product and its reprocessing.