The permutation ̄ow shop problem with just in time production considerations

This research presents a variation to the permutation ̄ow shop problem where Just In Time (JIT) production requirements are taken into account. The model developed in this research employs dual objectives. In addition to the traditional objective of minimizing the production makespan, minimization of Miltenburg’s material usage rate is also incorporated. In this model, multiple units of any product are permitted in the production sequence. However, the minimization of material usage rates attempts to prevent batch scheduling of products and allows unit ̄ow of products as required in demand ̄ow manufacturing.A solution method is proposed for determining an optimal production sequence via an e cient frontier approach and Simulated Annealing (SA). Test problems and speci®c performance criteria are used to assess the solutions generated by the proposed method. Experimental results presented in this paper show that the use of the e cient frontier and SA provide solutions that approach the optimal solution for the performance measures used in this research.