A tabu search approach for group scheduling in buffer-constrained flow shop cells

The scheduling problem in a cellular manufacturing system (CMS) has been named as group scheduling in the literature. Due to the similarities in the processing route of the parts being in a group, it is mostly referred to as flow shop group scheduling. This problem consists of two interrelated sub-problems, namely intra-group scheduling and inter-group scheduling. On the other hand, mostly there are limited buffers between successive machines in which the work-in-process inventories can be stored. This article investigates the flow shop group scheduling with limited buffers to minimise the total completion time (makespan). Regarding the NP-hardness of this problem, two tabu search algorithms are proposed for solving each sub-problem. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithms is evaluated on 270 randomly generated problems classified under 27 categories. The results of the proposed algorithm are compared with those of the heuristic published by Solimanpur–Vrat–Shankar (SVS). Computational results demonstrate significant reduction in the average makespan over the SVS-algorithm.

[1]  Inyong Ham,et al.  A heuristic algorithm for the m-machine, n-job flow-shop sequencing problem , 1983 .

[2]  Chelliah Sriskandarajah,et al.  A Survey of Machine Scheduling Problems with Blocking and No-Wait in Process , 1996, Oper. Res..

[3]  Rasaratnam Logendran,et al.  Total flow time minimization in a flowshop sequence-dependent group scheduling problem , 2010, Comput. Oper. Res..

[4]  Fred Glover,et al.  Tabu Search - Part II , 1989, INFORMS J. Comput..

[5]  É. Taillard.  Some efficient heuristic methods for the flow shop sequencing problem , 1990 .

[6]  Nancy Lea Hyer,et al.  Cellular manufacturing in the U.S. industry: a survey of users , 1989 .

[7]  R. A. Dudek,et al.  A Heuristic Algorithm for the n Job, m Machine Sequencing Problem , 1970 .

[8]  Ching-Jong Liao,et al.  Group scheduling on two cells with intercell movement , 1996, Comput. Oper. Res..

[9]  Eugeniusz Nowicki,et al.  The permutation flow shop with buffers: A tabu search approach , 1999, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[10]  V. A. Petrov.  Flowline group production planning , 1968 .

[11]  Inder Khosla.  The scheduling problem where multiple machines compete for a common local buffer , 1995 .

[12]  Jung Woo Jung,et al.  Flowshop-scheduling problems with makespan criterion: a review , 2005 .

[13]  K. R Baker,et al.  Scheduling groups of jobs in the two-machine flow shop , 1990 .

[14]  Thomas Stützle,et al.  Stochastic Local Search , 2007, Handbook of Approximation Algorithms and Metaheuristics.

[15]  Katsundo Hitomi,et al.  Optimal Two-Stage Production Scheduling with Setup Times Separated , 1979 .

[16]  Liang Zhang,et al.  An effective hybrid genetic algorithm for flow shop scheduling with limited buffers , 2006, Comput. Oper. Res..

[17]  Czesław Smutnicki,et al.  A two-machine permutation flow shop scheduling problem with buffers , 1998 .

[18]  Mostafa Zandieh,et al.  Bi-objective group scheduling in hybrid flexible flowshop: A multi-phase approach , 2010, Expert Syst. Appl..

[19]  B. Norman.  Scheduling flowshops with finite buffers and sequence-dependent setup times , 1999 .

[20]  Marco Pranzo,et al.  Batch scheduling in a two-machine flow shop with limited buffer and sequence independent setup times and removal times , 2004, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[21]  William L. Maxwell,et al.  The Role of Work-in-Process Inventory in Serial Production Lines , 1988, Oper. Res..

[22]  Kut C. So,et al.  The impact of buffering strategies on the performance of production line systems , 1990 .

[23]  Rasaratnam Logendran,et al.  Combined heuristics for bi-level group scheduling problems , 1995 .

[24]  Maghsud Solimanpur,et al.  A heuristic to minimize makespan of cell scheduling problem , 2004 .

[25]  Jeffrey E. Schaller.  A new lower bound for the flow shop group scheduling problem , 2001 .

[26]  Fred W. Glover,et al.  Tabu Search - Part I , 1989, INFORMS J. Comput..

[27]  Adil Baykasoglu,et al.  A new integrated system for loading and scheduling in cellular manufacturing , 2002, Int. J. Comput. Integr. Manuf..

[28]  Rainer Leisten,et al.  Flowshop sequencing problems with limited buffer storage , 1990 .

[29]  Reza Tavakkoli-Moghaddam,et al.  Design of a scatter search method for a novel multi-criteria group scheduling problem in a cellular manufacturing system , 2010, Expert Syst. Appl..

[30]  Tadeusz Sawik,et al.  Mixed integer programming for scheduling flexible flow lines with limited intermediate buffers , 2000 .

[31]  Yahya Fathi,et al.  Abstract Discrete Optimization , 2000 .

[32]  D. Ben-Arieh,et al.  Group scheduling using group technology concepts , 1989 .

[33]  Rasaratnam Logendran,et al.  Sequence-dependent group scheduling problems in flexible flow shops , 2006 .

[34]  Rasaratnam Logendran,et al.  Group scheduling in flexible flow shops , 2005 .

[35]  Saul I. Gass,et al.  Erratum to "Cycling in linear programming problems" [Computers and Operations Research 31 (2002) 303-311] , 2006, Comput. Oper. Res..

[36]  Rasaratnam Logendran,et al.  Minimizing the makespan of a group scheduling problem: a new heuristic , 1991 .

[37]  Xianpeng Wang,et al.  A tabu search heuristic for the hybrid flowshop scheduling with finite intermediate buffers , 2009, Comput. Oper. Res..

[38]  Peter Brucker,et al.  Flow-shop problems with intermediate buffers , 2003, OR Spectr..

[39]  John L. Hunsucker,et al.  A new heuristic for minimal makespan in flow shops with multiple processors and no intermediate storage , 2004, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[40]  Maw-Sheng Chern,et al.  Two-machine flowshop group scheduling problem , 2000, Computers & Operations Research.