Scheduling the production of rolling ingots: industrial context, model, and solution method

We study a real-world scheduling problem arising in the context of a rolling ingots production. First we review the production process and discuss peculiarities that have to be observed when scheduling a given set of production orders on the production facilities. We then show how to model this scheduling problem using prescribed time lags between operations, different kinds of resources, and sequence-dependent changeovers. A branch-and-bound solution procedure is presented in the second part. The basic principle is to relax the resource constraints by assuming infinite resource availability. Resulting resource conflicts are then stepwise resolved by introducing precedence relationships among operations competing for the same resources. The algorithm has been implemented as a beam search heuristic enumerating alternative sets of precedence relationships.

[1]  Rolf H. Möhring,et al.  Resource-constrained project scheduling: Notation, classification, models, and methods , 1999, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[2]  N. Trautmann.  Anlagenbelegungsplanung in der Prozeßindustrie , 2001 .

[3]  Norbert Trautmann,et al.  Batch scheduling in process industries: an application of resource–constrained project scheduling , 2000, OR Spectr..

[4]  Reha Uzsoy,et al.  Scheduling a single batch processing machine with secondary resource constraints , 1998 .

[5]  Peter Brucker,et al.  Scheduling Algorithms , 1995 .

[6]  Rolf H. Möhring,et al.  Scheduling project networks with resource constraints and time windows , 1988 .

[7]  Reha Uzsoy,et al.  Scheduling batch processing machines with incompatible job families , 1995 .

[8]  B. Fleischmann,et al.  Erfahrungen mit einem Simulationsmodell in einer Aluminiumgießerei , 1985 .

[9]  Chris N. Potts,et al.  Scheduling with batching: A review , 2000, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[10]  I. Grossmann,et al.  A decomposition approach for the scheduling of a steel plant production , 2001 .

[11]  Klaus Neumann,et al.  Project scheduling with inventory constraints , 2003, Math. Methods Oper. Res..

[12]  Klaus Neumann,et al.  Advanced production scheduling for batch plants in process industries , 2002, OR Spectr..

[13]  Michael Pinedo,et al.  Scheduling: Theory, Algorithms, and Systems , 1994 .

[14]  Professor Dr. Klaus Neumann,et al.  Project Scheduling with Time Windows and Scarce Resources , 2003, Springer Berlin Heidelberg.