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Using aggregation to reduce response time variability in cyclic fair sequences

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Abstract

Fair sequences are useful in a variety of applications, including manufacturing and computer systems. This paper considers the generation of cyclic fair sequences for a given set of products, each of which must be produced multiple times in each cycle. The objective is to create a sequence so that, for each product, the variability of the time between consecutive completions is minimized. Because minimizing response time variability is known to be NP-hard and the performance of existing heuristics is poor for certain classes of problems, we present an aggregation approach that combines products with the same demand, creates a sequence for the aggregated instance, and then disaggregates this solution into a feasible sequence for the original instance. Computational experiments show that using aggregation can reduce response time variability dramatically and also reduces computational effort.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, 2181 Martin Hall, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Jeffrey W. Herrmann

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  1. Jeffrey W. Herrmann
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Correspondence to Jeffrey W. Herrmann.

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Herrmann, J.W. Using aggregation to reduce response time variability in cyclic fair sequences. J Sched 14, 39–55 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10951-009-0127-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10951-009-0127-7

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