What is silver meal heuristic?

The Silver-Meal heuristic is a mathematical algorithm used in operational research and production planning to find the optimal production schedule with minimum inventory costs. It is commonly used in the manufacturing and supply chain industries.

The heuristic is based on the concept of adjusting the production quantities of each item to match the consumption rate of the item throughout the production process. The algorithm determines the optimal production quantity for each item in a given time period by subtracting the cost of the previous period's ending inventory from the cost of the proposed production schedule. The quantity proposed for production is the one with the lowest cost.

The name "Silver-Meal" comes from its creators, Herbert Silver and Roger B. Meal. The heuristic was first introduced in their book "Transportation and Network Analysis" in 1973.

Although the Silver-Meal heuristic is not always guaranteed to provide the best solution, it is a fast and intuitive method to find a reasonably good solution to production planning problems with limited resources. It is considered an essential tool for manufacturing industries to optimize production and reduce inventory costs.