A HYBRID FORWARD/BACKWARD APPROACH FOR SINGLE BATCH SCHEDULING PROBLEMS WITH NON-IDENTICAL JOB SIZES

Hui-Mei Wang

Department of Industrial Management

Vanung University, Chung-Li, Tao Yuan, Taiwan, R.O.C., 320

Pei-Chann Chang*

Department of Information Management

Yuan-Ze University, Nei-Li, Tao Yuan, Taiwan, R.O.C., 32026

Fuh-Der Chou

Department of Industrial Engineering and Management

Ching Yun University, Jung-Li, Tao Yuan, Taiwan, R.O.C., 320

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the single batch scheduling problem with different release times and non-identical job sizes and the objective is to minimize the makespan. A mixed integer programming (MIP) model is developed to describe the complexity of the problem and then a hybrid forward/backward algorithm (HFBA) is developed by moving blocks within an initial schedule to improve the solution quality. Changing the initial schedule at each iteration, HFBA could decrease the influence of the initial schedule and reach the best solution efficiently in the final runs. Extensive experiments show that HFBA can obtain optimal solutions for small-job instances, and have good performances on solution quality for large instances with a modest CPU times.

Keywords:batch processor, makespan, scheduling, forward/backward procedure

(*Contact: E-mail iepchange@saturn.yzu.edu.tw )

Cite this article as: Hui-Mei Wang, Pei-Chann Chang, and Fuh-Der Chou, "A Hybrid Forward/Backward Approach for Single Batch Scheduling Problems with Non-Identical Job Sizes," Journal of the Chinese Institute of Industrial Engineers, 24, 191-199 (2007).