A novel two-phase algorithm for a centralised production planning problem by symmetric weighted DEA approach : a case study in energy efficiency

This paper proposes a novel two-phase algorithm for a centralised production planning problem that covers both long-term and mid-term planning simultaneously. Mid-term decisions (first phase) include determining the amount of new inputs and outputs of units in the next production period and long-term decisions (second phase) are related to planning to create a new efficient production unit. The first phase includes a data envelopment analysis approach with symmetric weights through the penalty function. The second phase includes combining data envelopment analysis and response surface methods. In order to evaluate the proposed method, the National Iranian Gas Company is considered as a real case problem. The results show the superiority of the algorithm in both phases over similar methods. The main advantage of the first phase is the realistic production plan. Also, the main advantage of the second phase is optimising the response surface functions and maximising the efficiency of the unit at the same time using one model. [Submitted: 18 March 2021; Accepted: 27 September 2021]