Abstract
Many supply chains use returnable packaging such as plastic and metal containers, folding boxes, racks, and trays to transport components from suppliers to buyers. This study investigates the scheduling problem of a supplier that produces jobs for several buyers where the jobs for each buyer have to be delivered in that buyer’s returnable containers. Empty containers are provided by the buyers at certain release dates. The supplier can process a job when no adequate empty containers are available, but then incurs extra handling costs to pack the job into auxiliary packaging and repack it later. This study extends single machine scheduling with weighted earliness and tardiness penalties and batching by including returnable containers and repacking penalties. A mathematical programming formulation and a two-stage heuristic for this previously unstudied NP-hard scheduling problem are proposed and evaluated in a numerical study.
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Mensendiek, A. Scheduling with returnable containers. J Sched 18, 593–605 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10951-015-0426-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10951-015-0426-0