Mathematical programming for the scheduling problem with alternate process plans in FMS

Abstract The purpose of this research is to consider the operational scheduling problem and the determination of production routing with alternate process plans simultaneously such that the advantages of routing flexibility are expected. The problem is formulated by using 0–1 integer programming regarding to the performance measure of either the minimum of the absolute deviation of meeting due date or the minimum of total completion time. The approach of mathematical programming generates the optimal schedule, rather than near optimal schedule or a better schedule, to meet the selected criterion. Two mathematical formulation models developed are presented and an example is shown in this paper referring to the either one of performance criteria.