An integrated search heuristic for large-scale flexible job shop scheduling problems

The flexible job shop scheduling problem (FJSP) is a generalization of the classical job shop scheduling problem (JSP), where each operation is allowed to be processed by any machine from a given set, rather than one specified machine. In this paper, two algorithm modules, namely hybrid harmony search (HHS) and large neighborhood search (LNS), are developed for the FJSP with makespan criterion. The HHS is an evolutionary-based algorithm with the memetic paradigm, while the LNS is typical of constraint-based approaches. To form a stronger search mechanism, an integrated search heuristic, denoted as HHS/LNS, is proposed for the FJSP based on the two algorithms, which starts with the HHS, and then the solution is further improved by the LNS. Computational simulations and comparisons demonstrate that the proposed HHS/LNS shows competitive performance with state-of-the-art algorithms on large-scale FJSP problems, and some new upper bounds among the unsolved benchmark instances have even been found.     

A hybrid harmony search algorithm for the flexible job shop scheduling problem

In this paper, a novel hybrid harmony search (HHS) algorithm based on the integrated approach, is proposed for solving the flexible job shop scheduling problem (FJSP) with the criterion to minimize makespan. First of all, to make the harmony search (HS) algorithm adaptive to the FJSP, the converting techniques are developed to convert the continuous harmony vector to a kind of discrete two-vector code for the FJSP. Secondly, the harmony vector is mapped into a feasible active schedule through effectively decoding the transformed two-vector code, which could largely reduce the search space. Thirdly, a resultful initialization scheme combining heuristic and random strategies is introduced to make the initial harmony memory (HM) occur with certain quality and diversity. Furthermore, a local search procedure is embedded in the HS algorithm to enhance the local exploitation ability, whereas HS is employed to perform exploration by evolving harmony vectors in the HM. To speed up the local search process, the improved neighborhood structure based on common critical operations is presented in detail. Empirical results on various benchmark instances validate the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed algorithm. Our work also indicates that a well designed HS-based method is a competitive alternative for addressing the FJSP.     

Flexible job-shop scheduling with parallel variable neighborhood search algorithm

Flexible job-shop scheduling problem (FJSP) is an extension of the classical job-shop scheduling problem. FJSP is NP-hard and mainly presents two difficulties. The first one is to assign each operation to a machine out of a set of capable machines, and the second one deals with sequencing the assigned operations on the machines. This paper proposes a parallel variable neighborhood search (PVNS) algorithm that solves the FJSP to minimize makespan time. Parallelization in this algorithm is based on the application of multiple independent searches increasing the exploration in the search space. The proposed PVNS uses various neighborhood structures which carry the responsibility of making changes in assignment and sequencing of operations for generating neighboring solutions. The results obtained from the computational study have shown that the proposed algorithm is a viable and effective approach for the FJSP.     

Discrepancy search for the flexible job shop scheduling problem

The flexible job shop scheduling problem (FJSP) is a generalization of the classical job shop problem in which each operation must be processed on a given machine chosen among a finite subset of candidate machines. The aim is to find an allocation for each operation and to define the sequence of operations on each machine, so that the resulting schedule has a minimal completion time. We propose a variant of the climbing discrepancy search approach for solving this problem. We also present various neighborhood structures related to assignment and sequencing problems. We report the results of extensive computational experiments carried out on well-known benchmarks for flexible job shop scheduling. The results demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms the best-known algorithms for the FJSP on some types of benchmarks and remains comparable with them on other ones.     

改进的离散型萤火虫优化算法求解柔性作业车间调度问题

针对传统的群智能优化算法在求解柔性作业车间调度问题(FJSP)时,存在寻优能力不足且易陷入局部最优等缺点,本文以最小化最大完工时间为目标,将萤火虫算法(FA)用于求解柔性作业车间调度问题,提出一种改进的离散型萤火虫算法(DFA)。首先,通过两段式编码建立FA连续优化问题与FJSP离散优化问题之间的联系;其次,设计一种群初始化方法,以确保初始解的质量以及多样性;然后,提出改进离散型萤火虫优化算法并引入局部搜索算法,加强算法的全局搜索能力和局部搜索能力;最后,对标准算例进行仿真,验证DFA算法求解FJSP的有效性。通过与遗传算法和粒子群优化算法进行仿真对比,表明了DFA求解FJSP的优越性。     

Effective ensembles of heuristics for scheduling flexible job shop problem with new job insertion

This study investigates the flexible job shop scheduling problem (FJSP) with new job insertion. FJSP with new job insertion includes two phases: initializing schedules and rescheduling after each new job insertion. Initializing schedules is the standard FJSP problem while rescheduling is an FJSP with different job start time and different machine start time. The time to do rescheduling is the same as the time of new job insertion. Four ensembles of heuristics are proposed for scheduling FJSP with new job insertion. The objectives are to minimize maximum completion time (makespan), to minimize the average of earliness and tardiness (E/T), to minimize maximum machine workload (Mworkload) and total machine workload (Tworkload). Extensive computational experiments are carried out on eight real instances from remanufacturing enterprise. The results and comparisons show the effectiveness of the proposed heuristics for solving FJSP with new job insertion.     

基于新型蛙跳算法的低碳柔性作业车间调度

针对低碳柔性作业车间调度问题(flexible job shop scheduling problem,FJSP),提出一种新型蛙跳算法(shuffled frog leaping algorithm,SFLA)以总碳排放最小化,该算法运用记忆保留搜索所得一定数量的最优解,并采取基于种群和记忆的种群划分方法,应用新的搜索策略如全局搜索与局部搜索的协调优化以实现模因组内的搜索,取消种群重组使算法得到简化.采用混合遗传算法和教–学优化算法作为对比算法,大量仿真对比实验验证了SFLA对于求解低碳FJSP具有较强的搜索能力和竞争力.     

离散猫群优化算法求解带交货期的FJSP问题

针对带交货期的柔性作业车间调度问题(flexible job shop scheduling problem,FJSP),提出一种离散猫群优化算法(discrete cat swarm optimization,DCSO),以优化工件最大完工时间和平均提前/拖期时间.首先,设计一种两段式离散编码方式,用于表示调度解,并采用启发式算法实现种群初始化;其次,为了使算法能够直接在离散调度空间内运行,在搜寻模式下设计基于3种不同邻域结构的搜寻方法,并在跟踪模式下提出一种新型离散个体更新公式;再次,采用线性自适应猫群行为模式选择策略,协调算法全局搜索和局部搜索的能力;最后,为了进一步改善计算结果,在算法中嵌入一种局部搜索策略.通过基准算例测试DCSO算法的性能,仿真结果表明所提DCSO算法在求解FJSP问题方面的有效性.     

Co-evolutionary genetic algorithm for fuzzy flexible job shop scheduling

Fuzzy flexible job shop scheduling problem (FfJSP) is the combination of fuzzy scheduling and flexible scheduling in job shop environment, which is seldom investigated for its high complexity. We developed an effective co-evolutionary genetic algorithm (CGA) for the minimization of fuzzy makespan. In CGA, the chromosome of a novel representation consists of ordered operation list and machine assignment string, a new crossover operator and a modified tournament selection are proposed, and the population of job sequencing and the population of machine assignment independently evolve and cooperate for converging to the best solutions of the problem. CGA is finally applied and compared with other algorithms. Computational results show that CGA outperforms those algorithms compared.     

Optimizing urban traffic light scheduling problem using harmony search with ensemble of local search

This study addresses urban traffic light scheduling problem (UTLSP). A centralized model is employed to describe the urban traffic light control problem in a scheduling framework. In the proposed model, the concepts of cycles, splits, and offsets are not adopted, making UTLSP fall in the class of model-based optimization problems, where each traffic light is assigned in a real-time manner by the network controller. The objective is to minimize the network-wise total delay time in a given finite horizon. A swarm intelligent algorithm, namely discrete harmony search (DHS), is proposed to solve the UTLSP. In the DHS, a novel new solution generation strategy is proposed to improve the algorithm’s performance. Three local search operators with different structures are proposed based on the feature of UTLSP to improve the performance of DHS in local space. An ensemble of local search methods is proposed to integrate different neighbourhood structures. Extensive computational experiments are carried out using the traffic data from partial traffic network in Singapore. The DHS algorithm with and without local search operators and ensemble is evaluated and tested. The comparisons and discussions verify the effectiveness of DHS algorithms with local search operators and ensemble for solving UTLSP.     

多目标柔性车间调度的文化基因非支配排序粒子群算法

本文以离散型柔性制造车间为对象, 以缩短生产周期、减少机器空转时间和提高产品合格率为优化目标, 提出一种文化基因非支配排序粒子群算法. 该算法采用二维编码方式. 首先, 分别对工序和机器分配进行不同的变异操作, 建立了多目标离散型资源优化调度模型. 然后, 采用非支配排序策略和随机游走法获得Pareto最优解, 接着利用层次分析法给出资源优化配置方案. 最后, 利用实际生产数据进行仿真, 结果表明所提出的优化算法具有平衡全局搜索能力和局部搜索能力的特性.     

Flexible job shop scheduling using hybrid differential evolution algorithms

This paper proposes hybrid differential evolution (HDE) algorithms for solving the flexible job shop scheduling problem (FJSP) with the criterion to minimize the makespan. Firstly, a novel conversion mechanism is developed to make the differential evolution (DE) algorithm that works on the continuous domain adaptive to explore the problem space of the discrete FJSP. Secondly, a local search algorithm based on the critical path is embedded in the DE framework to balance the exploration and exploitation by enhancing the local searching ability. In addition, in the local search phase, the speed-up method to find an acceptable schedule within the neighborhood structure is presented to improve the efficiency of whole algorithms. Extensive computational results and comparisons show that the proposed algorithms are very competitive with the state of the art, some new best known solutions for well known benchmark instances have even been found.     

Bi-criteria flexible job-shop scheduling with sequence-dependent setup times—Variable neighborhood search approach

In scheduling problems, taking the sequence-dependent setup times into account is one of the important issues that have recently been considered by researchers in the production scheduling field. In this paper, we consider flexible job-shop scheduling problem (FJSP) with sequence-dependent setup times to minimize makespan and mean tardiness. The FJSP consists of two sub-problems from which the first one is to assign each operation to a machine out of a set of capable machines, and the second one deals with sequencing the assigned operations on all machines. To solve this problem, a variable neighborhood search (VNS) algorithm based on integrated approach is proposed. In the presented optimization method, the external loop controlled the stop condition of algorithm and the internal loop executed the search process. To search the solution space, the internal loop used two main search engines, i.e. shake and local search procedures. In addition, neighborhood structures related to the sequencing problem and the assignment problem were employed to generate neighboring solutions. To evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, 20 test problems in different sizes are randomly generated. Consequently, computational results and comparisons validate the quality of the proposed approach.     

A local-best harmony search algorithm with dynamic sub-harmony memories for lot-streaming flow shop scheduling problem

In this paper, a local-best harmony search (HS) algorithm with dynamic sub-harmony memories (HM), namely DLHS algorithm, is proposed to minimize the total weighted earliness and tardiness penalties for a lot-streaming flow shop scheduling problem with equal-size sub-lots. First of all, to make the HS algorithm suitable for solving the problem considered, a rank-of-value (ROV) rule is applied to convert the continuous harmony vectors to discrete job sequences, and a net benefit of movement (NBM) heuristic is utilized to yield the optimal sub-lot allocations for the obtained job sequences. Secondly, an efficient initialization scheme based on the NEH variants is presented to construct an initial HM with certain quality and diversity. Thirdly, during the evolution process, the HM is dynamically divided into many small-sized sub-HMs which evolve independently so as to balance the fast convergence and large diversity. Fourthly, a new improvisation scheme is developed to well inherit good structures from the local-best harmony vector in the sub-HM. Meanwhile, a chaotic sequence to produce decision variables for harmony vectors and a mutation scheme are utilized to enhance the diversity of the HM. In addition, a simple but effective local search approach is presented and embedded in the DLHS algorithm to enhance the local searching ability. Computational experiments and comparisons show that the proposed DLHS algorithm generates better or competitive results than the existing hybrid genetic algorithm (HGA) and hybrid discrete particle swarm optimization (HDPSO) for the lot-streaming flow shop scheduling problem with total weighted earliness and tardiness criterion.     

A discrete artificial bee colony algorithm for the lot-streaming flow shop scheduling problem

In this paper, a discrete artificial bee colony (DABC) algorithm is proposed to solve the lot-streaming flow shop scheduling problem with the criterion of total weighted earliness and tardiness penalties under both the idling and no-idling cases. Unlike the original ABC algorithm, the proposed DABC algorithm represents a food source as a discrete job permutation and applies discrete operators to generate new neighboring food sources for the employed bees, onlookers and scouts. An efficient initialization scheme, which is based on the earliest due date (EDD), the smallest slack time on the last machine (LSL) and the smallest overall slack time (OSL) rules, is presented to construct the initial population with certain quality and diversity. In addition, a self adaptive strategy for generating neighboring food sources based on insert and swap operators is developed to enable the DABC algorithm to work on discrete/combinatorial spaces. Furthermore, a simple but effective local search approach is embedded in the proposed DABC algorithm to enhance the local intensification capability. Through the analysis of experimental results, the highly effective performance of the proposed DABC algorithm is shown against the best performing algorithms from the literature.     

A self-guided differential evolution with neighborhood search for permutation flow shop scheduling

The permutation flow shop scheduling problem (PFSSP) is one of the most widely studied production scheduling problems and a typical NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems as well. In this paper, a self-guided differential evolution with neighborhood search (NS-SGDE) is presented for the PFSSP with the objectives of minimizing the maximum completion time. Firstly, some constructive heuristics are incorporated into the discrete harmony search (DHS) algorithm to initialize the population. Secondly, a guided agent based on the probabilistic model is proposed to guide the DE-based exploration phase to generate the offspring. Thirdly, multiple mutation and crossover operations based on the guided agent are employed to explore more effective solutions. Fourthly, the neighborhood search based on the variable neighborhood search (VNS) is designed to further improve the search ability. Moreover, the convergence of NS-SGDE for PFSSP is analyzed according to the theory of Markov chain. Computational simulations and comparisons with some existing algorithms based on some widely used benchmark instances of the PFSSP are carried out, which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed NS-SGDE in solving the PFSSP.     

混合灰狼优化算法求解柔性作业车间调度问题

将灰狼优化算法(GWO)用于柔性作业车间调度问题(FJSP),以优化最大完工时间为目标,提出一种混合灰狼优化算法(HGWO).首先,采用两段式编码方式,建立GWO连续空间与FJSP离散空间的映射关系;其次,设计种群初始化方法,保证算法初始解的质量;然后,嵌入一种变邻域搜索策略,加强算法的局部搜索能力,引入遗传算子,提升算法的全局探索能力;最后,通过实验数据验证HGWO算法在求解FJSP问题方面的有效性.     

An effective hybrid particle swarm optimization algorithm for multi-objective flexible job-shop scheduling problem

Flexible job-shop scheduling problem (FJSP) is an extension of the classical job-shop scheduling problem. Although the traditional optimization algorithms could obtain preferable results in solving the mono-objective FJSP. However, they are very difficult to solve multi-objective FJSP very well. In this paper, a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm and a tabu search (TS) algorithm are combined to solve the multi-objective FJSP with several conflicting and incommensurable objectives. PSO which integrates local search and global search scheme possesses high search efficiency. And, TS is a meta-heuristic which is designed for finding a near optimal solution of combinatorial optimization problems. Through reasonably hybridizing the two optimization algorithms, an effective hybrid approach for the multi-objective FJSP has been proposed. The computational results have proved that the proposed hybrid algorithm is an efficient and effective approach to solve the multi-objective FJSP, especially for the problems on a large scale.     

基于浮点型编码策略的差分多目标柔性车间调度优化

运用进化算法求解柔性车间调度问题时,编码的特殊性对进化策略造成的局限制约了算法的搜索能力。为此,提出一种基于浮点型编码策略的差分多目标优化算法。该算法采用基于工序权重的浮点数编码—解码机制,消除了排列组合型编码方式对进化操作带来的约束,运用差分进化策略生成新个体,以提高优秀个体产生的几率,进而保证算法有更好的收敛性。将算法与传统算法及其改进形式在相同测试用例上进行对比,结果表明,本算法在保证收敛性的同时,搜索到更多的非支配个体,体现出更好的分布性。此外,提出了平行决策和等价平行决策的定义,将柔性车间调度模型的研究拓展至决策空间。     

Mathematical modeling and a hybridized bacterial foraging optimization algorithm for the flexible job-shop scheduling problem with sequencing flexibility

The flexible job-shop scheduling problem (FJSP) is an extension of the classical job-shop scheduling problem (JSP) in which operations can be performed by a set of candidate capable machines. An extended version of the FJSP, entitled sequencing flexibility, is studied in this work, which considers precedence between the operations in the form of a directed acyclic graph instead of a sequential order. In this work, a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulation is presented to minimize weighted tardiness for the FJSP with sequencing flexibility. Due to the NP-hardness of the problem, a novel biomimicry hybrid bacterial foraging optimization algorithm (HBFOA) is developed, which is inspired by the behavior of E. coli bacteria in its search for food. The developed HBFOA search method is hybridized with simulated annealing (SA). Additionally, the algorithm has been enhanced by a local search method based on the manipulation of critical operations. Classical dispatching rules have been employed to create the initial swarm of HBFOA, and a new dispatching rule named minimum number of operations has been devised. The developed approach has been packaged in the form of a decision support system (DSS) developed on top of Microsoft Excel—a tool most small and mid-range enterprises (SME) use heavily for planning. A case study with local industry is presented to validate the proposed HBFOA and MILP. Additional numerical experiments using literature benchmarks are further used for validation. The results demonstrate that the HBFOA outperformed the classical dispatching rules and the best integer solution of MILP when minimizing the weighted tardiness and offered comparable results for the makespan instances.