In this paper we consider the problem of estimating a parameter of a probability distribution when we have some prior information on a nuisance parameter. We start by the very simple case where we know perfectly the value of the nuisance parameter. The complete likelihood is the classical tool in this case. Then, progressively, we consider the case where we are given a prior probability distrib...

This paper addresses minimizing Total Weighted Earliness/Tardiness (TWET) of jobs in a Flexible Job Shop (FJS) problem. The FJS problem is an extension of the classical Job Shop (JS) problem that implies each operation may be assigned to alternative available machines. So, a job may have alternative routing. The FJS problem with a TWET criterion is modeled as a mixed integer programming. The mo...

This paper presents a neural network approach with successful implementation for the robot task-sequencing problem. The problem addresses the sequencing of tasks comprising loading and unloading of parts into and from the machines by a material-handling robot. The performance criterion is to minimize a weighted objective of the total robot travel time for a set of tasks and the tardiness of the...

This paper proposes an Iterated Local Search (ILS) procedure and an Iterated Greedy (IG) algorithm, which are both combined with a variable neighbourhood search (VNS), for dealing with the flow shop problem with blocking, in order to minimize the total tardiness of jobs. The structure of both algorithms is very similar, but they differ in the way that the search is diversified in the space of s...

The no idle permutation flow shop scheduling problem (NIPFSP) is a popular NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem, which exists in several real world production processes. This study proposes a novel hybrid estimation of the distribution algorithm and cuckoo search (CS) algorithm (HEDA_CS) to solve the NIPFSP with the total tardiness criterion minimization. The problem model is built on the...

The performance of a scheduling system, in practice, is not evaluated to satisfy a single objective, but to obtain a trade-off schedule regarding multiple objectives. Therefore, in this research, we make use of one of the multiple objective decision-making methods, a global criterion approach, to develop a multi-objective model for solving FMS scheduling problems with consideration of three per...

This paper presents a hybrid backward scheduling method, referred to as HBS, which mainly addresses discrete manufacturing environments. It operates under the framework of hierarchical finite capacity shop floor modelling and discrete event simulation. HBS applies a set of transformation relations in order to convert a finite capacity forward scheduling method (FS) that can employ different ass...

In many real-world production systems, it requires an explicit consideration of sequencedependent setup times when scheduling jobs. As for the scheduling criterion, the tardiness, holding and setup costs are always regarded as the most important criteria in practical systems. Considering all of these criterions has received little attention in the scheduling literature. In this paper, we presen...

In this paper a multicriteria scheduling problem with sequence-dependent setup times on a single machine is considered. The objective function of the problem is minimization of the weighted sum of total completion time, maximum tardiness and maximum earliness. An integer programming model is developed for the problem which belongs to NP-hard class. Only small size problems with up to 12 jobs ca...