Scheduling parallel machines with major and minor setup times

  • Robert J. Wittrock
Article

Abstract

This article discusses the problem of scheduling a large set of parts on an FMS so as to minimize the total completion time. Here, the FMS consists of a set of parallel identical machines. Setup time is incurred whenever a machine switches from one type of part to another. The setup time may be large or small depending on whether or not the two part types belong to the same family. This article describes a fast heuristic for this scheduling problem and derives a lower bound on the optimal solution. In computational tests using random data and data from an IBM card test line, the heuristic archieves nearly optimal schedules.

Key Words

Scheduling parallel machines major and minor setup times heuristics 

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References

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Copyright information

© Kluwer Academic Publishers 1990

Authors and Affiliations

  • Robert J. Wittrock
    • 1
  1. 1.Manufacturing Research DepartmentIBM Thomas J. Watson Research CenterYorktown HeightsUSA

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