An efficient Pareto approach for solving the multi-objective flexible job-shop scheduling problem with regular criteria

Abstract

In this paper, a general local search approach for the Multi-Objective Flexible Job-shop Scheduling Problem (MOFJSP) is proposed to determine a Pareto front for any combination of regular criteria. The approach is based on a disjunctive graph, a fast estimation function to evaluate moves and a hierarchical test to efficiently control the set of non-dominated solutions. Four search strategies using two neighborhood structures are developed. Numerical experiments are conducted on test instances of the literature with three sets of criteria to minimize and using metrics to evaluate and compare Pareto fronts. The results show that our approach provides sets of non-dominated solutions of good quality.