In this research, we consider a two-machine permutation flowshop with ready times and limited waiting times of jobs in a semiconductor fab. In the flowshop, each job has its corresponding ready time (arrival time) at machine 1 (for the first operation) and limited waiting time between the completion time of the first operation on machine 1 and the starting time of the second operation on machin...

In this work, we introduce the Flowshop Scheduling Problem with Delivery Dates and Cumulative Payoffs. This problem is a variation of the flowshop scheduling problem with job release dates that maximizes the total payoff with a stepwise job objective function. This paper contributes towards proposing a mathematical formulation for this new problem and an original constructive heuristic. Additio...

Variation reduction in multistage assembly processes is an important but challenging issue for quality control. It is desirable to minimize the final product variance from a system level. Fruitful research has been conducted on this issue based on the fixed assembly order. However, the variability of parts can be affected by different assembly order. In this paper, we propose a quality control ...

In this paper, we address the problem of scheduling a set of jobs in a flowshop with makespan objective. In contrast to the usual assumption of machine availability presented in most research, we consider that machines may not be available at the beginning of the planning period, due to processing of previously scheduled jobs. We first formulate the problem, analyse the structure of solutions d...

We introduce a new technique for solving several sequencing problems. We consider Gilmore and Gomory’s variant of the Traveling Salesman Problem and two variants of no-wait flowshop scheduling, the classical makespan minimization problem and a new problem arising in the multistage production process in steel manufacturing. Our technique is based on an intuitive interpretation of sequencing prob...

This paper considers the relocation problem arising from public re-development projects cast as a two-machine flowshop scheduling problem. In such a project, some buildings need to be torn down and re-constructed. The two processes of tearing down and re-constructing each building are often viewed as a single operation. However, under certain circumstances, the re-construction process, i.e., th...

The flowshop scheduling problems with n jobs processed on two or three machines, and with two jobs processed on k machines are addressed where jobs have random and bounded processing times. The probability distributions of random processing times are unknown, and only the lower and upper bounds of processing times are given before scheduling. In such cases, there may not exist a unique schedule...

This paper explores a specific combinatorial problem relating to re-entrant jobs on parallel primary machines, with a remote server machine. A middle operation is required by each job on the server before it returns to its primary processing machine. The problem is inspired by the logistics of a semi-automated micro-biology laboratory. The testing programme in the laboratory corresponds roughly...

This paper investigates the hybrid flowshop scheduling with finite intermediate buffers, whose objective is to minimize the sum of weighted completion time of all jobs. Since this problem is very complex and has been proven strongly NP-hard, a tabu search heuristic is proposed. In this heuristic there are two main features. One is that a scatter search mechanism is incorporated to improve the d...

This paper addresses the problem of products grouping in the tile industry. This production system can be classified as a three-stage hybrid flowshop with sequence dependent and separable setup times. Main objective has been to identify a set of families integrated by products with common features. This classification would help Production Managers to minimize changeover time, allowing them to ...