We present a heuristic approach to solve a complex problem in production planning, the multistage lot-sizing problem with capacity constraints. It consists of determining the quantity to be produced in different periods in a planning horizon, such that an initially given demand forecast can be attained. We consider setup costs and setup times. Due the complexity to solve this problem, we developed methods based on evolutionary metaheuristics, more specifically a memetic algorithm. The proposed heuristics are evaluated using randomly generated instances and well-known examples in the literature. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.8716781