Simulated Annealing for Production Scheduling: A Case Study

Abstract

In this work, a production scheduling problem is developed through a Simulated Annealing approach, with the Tardiness minimization as objective function. The algorithm is applied to a plastic container facility, which operates an injection molding process with several parallel machines. The algorithm applicability and its performance is illustrated through two production strategies, the make-to-order (MTO) and make-to-stock (MTS). In the latter inventory management is taken into account.