Optimal Operation and Scheduling of Parallel Machines in Jobshop Environments

Abstract

Scheduling of machines together with the optimization of the energy consumption (EC) play a crucial role in every manufacturing system. The current paper aims to present a multi-objective optimization approach for planning and scheduling of a manufacturing system in a job-shop environment. First, an inclusive review and comparison of the latest advancements in this field was performed. Then, a manufacturing system in a job-shop environment, which consists of six designed machines with zero buffer capacity, and 53 jobs, was simulated. Four heuristics for the purpose of sequencing are adopted during the analysis process. A comparison of the optimum results suggested the most efficient values for the EC, make-span, and tardiness. The EC variations and processing time of the machines were studied under sequencing rules to let the designers exploring more efficient solutions, and planning strategies towards enhancing the performance and reliability of studied machines. Next step of this study was to estimate the optimum completion time of each process in the considered manufacturing system and with consideration of the proposed scheduling methods.