Simultaneous 2D hoist scheduling and production line design for multi-recipe and multi-stage material handling processes

Abstract M ulti-recipe and M ulti-stage M aterial H andling (M3H) processes are broadly employed in various industries, where hoists are used for job transfer among different processing units. The hoist movement should be optimally scheduled to maximize the production efficiency. In previous studies, the hoist scheduling is based on a given one dimensional (1D) M3H production line, where spatial locations of processing units are already fixed. Such an arrangement totally separates the hoist scheduling from the optimal design of M3H processes and wastes lots of hoist traveling time on job transfer, so that the production efficiency is inherently restricted. In this paper, a novel cyclic hoist scheduling (CHS) method coupling the optimal design of two-dimensional (2D) production line has been developed for the maximum production efficiency of general M3H processes. It can maximize the production efficiency by simultaneously and optimally determining: (i) the hoist movement schedule for handling different types of jobs with different processing recipes; (ii) the allocation of different processing units in optimal 2D spatial locations; and (iii) the assignment of multi-processing capacity to most needed processing units. The developed method also considers tough processing constraints such as the customized production ratio and various processing time limits for every job in each processing units. The efficacy of the developed method has been demonstrated by case studies.

[1]  Yun Jiang,et al.  Cyclic scheduling of a single hoist in extended electroplating lines: a comprehensive integer programming solution , 2002 .

[2]  Sujing Wang,et al.  A new method of cyclic hoist scheduling for multi-recipe and multi-stage material handling processes , 2016, Comput. Chem. Eng..

[3]  Qiang Xu,et al.  Real‐time dynamic hoist scheduling for multistage material handling process under uncertainties , 2013 .

[4]  Qiang Xu,et al.  Simultaneous mixed-integer dynamic optimization for environmentally benign electroplating , 2011, Comput. Chem. Eng..

[5]  Chengbin Chu,et al.  A polynomial algorithm for no-wait cyclic hoist scheduling in an extended electroplating line , 2005, Oper. Res. Lett..

[6]  Chengbin Chu,et al.  A polynomial algorithm for 2-degree cyclic robot scheduling , 2003, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[7]  Qiang Xu,et al.  Production-ratio oriented optimization for multi-recipe material handling via simultaneous hoist scheduling and production line arrangement , 2013, Comput. Chem. Eng..

[8]  Qiang Xu,et al.  Integration of electroplating process design and operation for simultaneous productivity maximization, energy saving, and freshwater minimization , 2012 .

[9]  Eugene Levner,et al.  An efficient algorithm for multi-hoist cyclic scheduling with fixed processing times , 2006, Oper. Res. Lett..

[10]  Qiang Xu,et al.  Graph-Assisted Cyclic Hoist Scheduling for Environmentally Benign Electroplating , 2004 .

[11]  P.R. Kumar.  Scheduling semiconductor manufacturing plants , 1994, IEEE Control Systems.

[12]  Chengbin Chu,et al.  Cyclic hoist scheduling based on graph theory , 1995, Proceedings 1995 INRIA/IEEE Symposium on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation. ETFA'95.

[13]  J. Świątek,et al.  Electroplating production scheduling by cyclogram unfolding in dynamic hoist scheduling problem , 2011 .

[14]  Henry L. W. Nuttle,et al.  Hoist Scheduling For A PCB Electroplating Facility , 1988 .

[15]  Chengbin Chu,et al.  Dynamic hoist scheduling problem with multi-capacity reentrant machines: A mixed integer programming approach , 2015, Comput. Ind. Eng..

[16]  L. W. Phillips,et al.  Mathematical Programming Solution of a Hoist Scheduling Program , 1976 .

[17]  Kin Keung Lai,et al.  A study of heuristics for bidirectional multi-hoist production scheduling systems , 1994 .

[18]  Jacques Lamothe,et al.  Hoist scheduling problem in a real time context , 1994 .

[19]  W. C. Ng.  Determining the optimal number of duplicated process tanks in a single-hoist circuit board production line , 1995 .

[20]  Xiaoguang Yang,et al.  Optimal Cyclic Multi-Hoist Scheduling: A Mixed Integer Programming Approach , 2004, Oper. Res..

[21]  Ada Che,et al.  Real‐time hoist scheduling for multistage material handling process under uncertainties , 2013 .

[22]  Pierre Baptiste,et al.  Resolution Of The Cyclic Multi-Hoists Scheduling Problem With Overlapping Partitions , 1997 .

[23]  Ronald D. Armstrong,et al.  A bounding scheme for deriving the minimal cycle time of a single-transporter N-stage process with time-window constraints , 1994 .

[24]  A. Che,et al.  Single-track multi-hoist scheduling problem: a collision-free resolution based on a branch-and-bound approach , 2004 .

[25]  Joon-Mook Lim,et al.  A genetic algorithm for a single hoist scheduling in the printed-circuit-board electroplating line , 1997 .