Deciding on when to change – a benchmark of metaheuristic algorithms for timing engineering changes

Changes to components, known as engineering changes (ECs), rarely occur on their own. In fact, in complex assembly systems, most ECs are introduced in batches to ensure that changed components match. As a result, to implement ECs optimally, multiple component’s stock must be considered until the change is executed on the EC effectivity date. This problem is known as the EC effectivity date optimisation problem, a variation of the general inventory control problem with deterministic and dynamic demand. As optimisation and monitoring of this problem is computationally expensive, research has suggested to investigate whether metaheuristics can provide adequate support. To fill this research gap, we present the results of a benchmark on basic metaheuristics for EC effectivity date optimisation. To do so, we have compared five common metaheuristics in their basic form (Ant Colony Optimisation, Genetic Algorithm, Particle Swarm Optimisation, Tabu Search, and Simulated Annealing) on a real-world test set. Of the tested algorithms the Genetic Algorithm identified most best solutions and returned good average results for the test cases. However, as its reliability was comparatively low, our research suggests a sequential application of the Genetic Algorithm and Tabu Search.