Dynamic hoist scheduling problem on real-life electroplating production line

Abstract

The paper describes a conducted research in order to create the scheduling system for electroplating lines. We are interested in an order driven production organization. This type of production requires scheduling in the real-time. In order to avoid costly scheduling, before the real-time system starts we prepare a set of production scenarios. We use recognition methods to select the most appropriate scenario. Selected scenarios are parameters to a heuristic scheduling algorithm called cyclogram unfolding. We present the short problem notion and algorithm steps. The real-life production line located at Wrocław, Poland is used to explain the algorithm step by step. We analyze the results for historical runs and generated problems. The utilization ratio is introduced in order to judge the quality of created schedules. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.