Solving Group Scheduling Problem in No-wait Flow Shop with Sequence Dependent Setup Times

Abstract

Different manufacturing enterprises use regularly scheduling algorithms in order to help meeting demands over time and reducing operational costs. Nowadays, for a better useofresources and manufacturingin accordance withcustomer needs and given the level ofcompetitionbetweencompanies, employing asuitablescheduling programhasa double importance. Conventional productionmethods are constantly substituted with new ones for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire production system. In this paper, two Meta-heuristic algorithms, Genetic and simulated annealing, have been used in order to solve the group scheduling problem of jobs in a single stage No-wait flow shop environment in which setup times are sequence dependent,. The purpose of solving the proposed problem is to minimize the maximum time needed to complete the jobs (Makespan). The results show that Genetic algorithm is efficient in problems with small and large dimensions, with respect to time parameter of problem solving.