Generic Mathematical Models for the Flow Shop Lot Streaming Problem

To comprehend the intricacies of a problem situation, it is best to represent it, if possible, as a mathematical model. A mathematical model can also help in possibly identifying some inherent structural properties of the problem and in devising an appropriate algorithm for its solution. Chapter 1 contains a brief review of work on the flow shop lot streaming problems. This work has focused on addressing two-machine, three-machine, and the general m-machine scenarios. In this chapter, we develop some generic mathematical models for the lot streaming problem that encompass all of these scenarios and also that address various features pertinent to lot streaming.We present these models in Sect. 2.2 and also give their illustrations using simple examples. The key features of the models that are presented in this section are summarized in Table 2.1. In Sect. 2.3, we introduce mathematical models for some special cases of the flow shop lot streaming problem that have been presented in the literature.