Distributed feedback control algorithm for dynamic truck loading scheduling problem

Distributed arrival time control (DATC) is a highly distributed feedback control algorithm for the scheduling problems in heterarchical operation systems [V.V. Prabhu, Performance of real-time distributed arrival time control in heterarchical manufacturing systems, IIE Transactions 32 (2000) 323–331]. Although DATC has presented outstanding performance for the real-time scheduling problems in dynamic operational environment, little evidence exists for its effectiveness where earliness and tardiness of a job are penalized at different rates. This study proposes an adapted DATC algorithm, called weighted multi-scale DATC (wms-DATC), to handle a dynamic truck loading scheduling problem where each truck has different earliness and tardiness penalties during a loading operation in a shipment yard. To validate the performance of wms-DATC in the dynamic truck loading scheduling problem, computational experiments are conducted. The computational results reveal that wms-DATC provides promising results and outperforms existing dispatching rules. 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.