Research on the Flexible Job Shop Scheduling Problem Using Drum-Buffer-Rope Approach

Abstract

Flexible job shop scheduling problem (FJSP) is a well known NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem due to its very large search space and many constraints between machines and jobs. To solve the flexible job shop scheduling problem with minimizing the completion time, a hybrid approach is proposed based on the DBR (Drum-Buffer-Rope) theory and the genetic algorithm. In the proposed method, the bottleneck identification mechanism is established to find the bottleneck machines. Then, scheduling strategy is designed based on the critical path of the machine during operation. In order to keep good solution in every generation, we use external libraries elite excellent solution for de-reserved. Using the proposed algorithm for solving benchmark problems, the experimental results verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the algorithm.