Some effective heuristics for no-wait flowshops with setup times to minimize total completion time

Abstract In this work, we consider a complex flowshop scheduling problem in which both no-wait and separate setup times are considered. The optimisation criterion is the minimisation of the total completion time. We propose an effective dominance rule for the four machine case that can also be used for m machines. Five simple and fast heuristics are proposed along with two easy to code stochastic local search methods, one of them being based on Iterated Local Search (ILS). An extensive computational evaluation is carried out with two sets of 5,400 instances. All seven methods are compared to two recent algorithms. The results, confirmed by thorough statistical analyses, show that the proposed methods are more effective and efficient when compared to the best existing algorithms in the literature for the considered problem.

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

[2]  Thomas Stützle,et al.  Stochastic Local Search: Foundations & Applications , 2004 .

[3]  Jatinder N. D. Gupta,et al.  Two-stage no-wait scheduling models with setup and removal times separated , 1997, Comput. Oper. Res..

[4]  Jatinder N. D. Gupta,et al.  Flowshop scheduling with set-up, processing and removal times separated , 1991 .

[5]  E.L. Lawler,et al.  Optimization and Approximation in Deterministic Sequencing and Scheduling: a Survey , 1977 .

[6]  Dileep R. Sule,et al.  Sequencing n jobs on two machines with setup, processing and removal times separated , 1982 .

[7]  F. Glover,et al.  Handbook of Metaheuristics , 2019, International Series in Operations Research & Management Science.

[8]  L. Darrell Whitley,et al.  Contrasting Structured and Random Permutation Flow-Shop Scheduling Problems: Search-Space Topology and Algorithm Performance , 2002, INFORMS J. Comput..

[9]  Ronald G. McGarvey,et al.  Total flowtime and makespan for a no-wait m-machine flowshop with set-up times separated , 2004, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[10]  Helena Ramalhinho Dias Lourenço,et al.  Iterated Local Search , 2001, Handbook of Metaheuristics.

[11]  Bertrand M. T. Lin,et al.  Application of ant colony optimization for no-wait flowshop scheduling problem to minimize the total completion time , 2004, Comput. Ind. Eng..

[12]  J. Gupta.  Optimal flowshop schedules with no intermediate storage space , 1976 .

[13]  Chandrasekharan Rajendran,et al.  A No-Wait Flowshop Scheduling Heuristic to Minimize Makespan , 1994 .

[14]  Tariq A. Aldowaisan.  A new heuristic and dominance relations for no-wait flowshops with setups , 2001, Comput. Oper. Res..

[15]  Ali Allahverdi,et al.  Total flowtime in no-wait flowshops with separated setup times , 1998, Comput. Oper. Res..

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

[17]  Ali Allahverdi,et al.  New heuristics for no-wait flowshops to minimize makespan , 2003, Comput. Oper. Res..

[18]  G. Liesegang,et al.  Comment on “On the Flow-Shop Sequencing Problem with No Wait in Process” , 1972 .

[19]  D. Chaudhuri,et al.  Heuristic algorithms for continuous flow-shop problem , 1990 .

[20]  A. S. Spachis,et al.  Heuristics for flow-shop scheduling , 1980 .

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

[22]  Chandrasekharan Rajendran,et al.  Heuristics for scheduling in a flowshop with setup, processing and removal times separated , 1997 .

[23]  Tariq A. Aldowaisan,et al.  No-wait and separate setup three-machine flowshop with total completion time criterion , 2000 .

[24]  Chelliah Sriskandarajah,et al.  A heuristic for scheduling two-machine no-wait flow shops with anticipatory setups , 2000, Oper. Res. Lett..

[25]  A. J. Clewett,et al.  Introduction to sequencing and scheduling , 1974 .

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

[27]  Rubén Ruiz,et al.  A comprehensive review and evaluation of permutation flowshop heuristics to minimize flowtime , 2013, Comput. Oper. Res..

[28]  Dileep R. Sule,et al.  Sequency on two and three machines with setup, processing and removal times separated , 1983 .

[29]  D. A. Wismer,et al.  Solution of the Flowshop-Scheduling Problem with No Intermediate Queues , 1972, Oper. Res..

[30]  Tapan Sen,et al.  Job lateness in a two-machine flowshop with setup times separated , 1991, Comput. Oper. Res..

[31]  Hans Röck,et al.  Some new results in flow shop scheduling , 1984, Z. Oper. Research.

[32]  Ravi Sethi,et al.  The Complexity of Flowshop and Jobshop Scheduling , 1976, Math. Oper. Res..

[33]  Ali Allahverdi,et al.  Minimizing mean flowtime in a two-machine flowshop with sequence-independent setup times , 2000, Comput. Oper. Res..

[34]  S. S. Panwalkar,et al.  The Lessons of Flowshop Scheduling Research , 1992, Oper. Res..

[35]  Rubén Ruiz,et al.  Solving the flowshop scheduling problem with sequence dependent setup times using advanced metaheuristics , 2005, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[36]  Chuen-Lung Chen,et al.  Genetic algorithms applied to the continuous flow shop problem , 1996 .

[37]  Hans Röck,et al.  The Three-Machine No-Wait Flow Shop is NP-Complete , 1984, JACM.

[38]  Maurice Bonney,et al.  Solutions to the Constrained Flowshop Sequencing Problem , 1976 .

[39]  Jatinder N. D. Gupta,et al.  A review of scheduling research involving setup considerations , 1999 .

[40]  C. Rajendran,et al.  Heuristic algorithms for scheduling in the no-wait flowshop , 1993 .

[41]  I. Osman,et al.  Simulated annealing for permutation flow-shop scheduling , 1989 .

[42]  Thomas Stützle,et al.  A simple and effective iterated greedy algorithm for the permutation flowshop scheduling problem , 2007, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[43]  Jatinder N. D. Gupta,et al.  A REVIEW OF FLOWSHOP SCHEDULING RESEARCH WITH SETUP TIMES , 2000 .

[44]  Józef Grabowski,et al.  Some local search algorithms for no-wait flow-shop problem with makespan criterion , 2005, Comput. Oper. Res..