Efficient Heuristic Solution Methodologies for Scheduling Batch Processor with Incompatible Job-Families, Non-identical Job-Sizes and Non-identical Job-Dimensions

Abstract

Efficient scheduling of heat-treatment furnace (HTF), a batch processor (BP), is very important to meet both throughput benefits as well as the committed due date to the customer, as the heat-treatment operations require very long processing time in the entire steel casting manufacturing process and accounts for large part of the total casting processing time required. In the recent time, there are good number of studies reported in the literature related to scheduling of BP associated with many discrete parts manufacturing. However, still there is very scant treatment has been given in scheduling of HTF problem, which has one of the unique job-characteristic: Non-identical job-dimensions. This characteristic differentiates most of the other BP problems reported in the literature. Thus, this study considers a scheduling HTF, close to real-life problem characteristics, and proposes efficient heuristic solution methodologies.