ADAPTIVE SCHEDULING FOR OPERATING ROOM MANAGEMENT

The perioperative process in hospitals can be modelled as a 3-stage no-wait flow shop. The utilization of OR units and the average waiting time of patients are related to makespan and total completion time, respectively. However, minimizations of makespan and total completion time are NP-hard and NP-complete. Consequently, achieving good effectiveness and efficiency is a challenge in no-wait flow shop scheduling. The average idle time (AIT) and current and future idle time (CFI) heuristics are proposed to minimize makespan and total completion time, respectively. To improve effectiveness, current idle times and future idle times are taken into consideration and the insertion and neighborhood exchanging techniques are used. To improve efficiency, an objective increment method is introduced and the number of iterations is determined to reduce the computation times. Compared with three best-known heuristics for each objective, AIT and CFI heuristics can achieve greater effectiveness in the same computational complexity based on a variety of benchmarks. Furthermore, AIT and CFI heuristics perform better on trade-off balancing compared with other two best-known heuristics. Moreover, using the CFI heuristic for operating room (OR) scheduling, the average patient flow times are decreased by 11.2% over historical ones at University of Kentucky Health Care

An Enhanced Estimation of Distribution Algorithm for Energy-Efficient Job-Shop Scheduling Problems with Transportation Constraints

[EN] Nowadays, the manufacturing industry faces the challenge of reducing energy consumption and the associated environmental impacts. Production scheduling is an effective approach for energy-savings management. During the entire workshop production process, both the processing and transportation operations consume large amounts of energy. To reduce energy consumption, an energy-efficient job-shop scheduling problem (EJSP) with transportation constraints was proposed in this paper. First, a mixed-integer programming model was established to minimize both the comprehensive energy consumption and makespan in the EJSP. Then, an enhanced estimation of distribution algorithm (EEDA) was developed to solve the problem. In the proposed algorithm, an estimation of distribution algorithm was employed to perform the global search and an improved simulated annealing algorithm was designed to perform the local search. Finally, numerical experiments were implemented to analyze the performance of the EEDA. The results showed that the EEDA is a promising approach and that it can solve EJSP effectively and efficiently.This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (No. 17KJB460018), the Innovation Foundation for Science and Technology of Yangzhou University (No. 2016CXJ020 and No. 2017CXJ018), Science and Technology Project of Yangzhou under (No. YZ2017278), Research Topics of Teaching Reform of Yangzhou University under (No. YZUJX2018-28B), and the Spanish Government (No. TIN2016-80856-R and No. TIN2015-65515-C4-1-R).Dai, M.; Zhang, Z.; Giret Boggino, AS.; Salido, MA. (2019). An Enhanced Estimation of Distribution Algorithm for Energy-Efficient Job-Shop Scheduling Problems with Transportation Constraints. Sustainability. 11(11):1-23. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113085S1231111Wu, X., & Sun, Y. (2018). 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Working Notes from the 1992 AAAI Spring Symposium on Practical Approaches to Scheduling and Planning

The symposium presented issues involved in the development of scheduling systems that can deal with resource and time limitations. To qualify, a system must be implemented and tested to some degree on non-trivial problems (ideally, on real-world problems). However, a system need not be fully deployed to qualify. Systems that schedule actions in terms of metric time constraints typically represent and reason about an external numeric clock or calendar and can be contrasted with those systems that represent time purely symbolically. The following topics are discussed: integrating planning and scheduling; integrating symbolic goals and numerical utilities; managing uncertainty; incremental rescheduling; managing limited computation time; anytime scheduling and planning algorithms, systems; dependency analysis and schedule reuse; management of schedule and plan execution; and incorporation of discrete event techniques

Tailored Iterated Greedy metaheuristic for a scheduling problem in metal 3D printing

This article contributes to the additive manufacturing-based production planning literature by developing a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) formulation for the Identical Parallel 3D-Printing Machines Scheduling Problem considering batching, multiple build platforms of restricted sizes, and sequence-independent setup times. Besides, a customized metaheuristic, named the Tailored Iterated Greedy (TIG) Algorithm is developed to solve the new optimization problem. TIG’s performance is evaluated through extensive numerical analysis and using a new testbed. It is shown that the customized computational mechanisms improve the optimization performance; statistical analysis is supportive of the significance of the resulting improvements. The developed mathematical model and optimization algorithm can be considered the basis for future developments in the optimization literature of additive manufacturing

Analysis of no-wait flow shop scheduling problems and solving with hybrid scatter search method

Beklemesiz Akış Tipi Çizelgeleme (BATÇ), pratik uygulamalarından dolayı kapsamlı bir araştırma alanıdır. BATÇ problemlerinde işler, makinelerde kesintisiz olarak işlem görmek zorundadır. Bir işin tüm makinelerde işlenme süresi boyunca, makineler bekleyebilir fakat işler kesintisiz olarak işlenmelidir. Amaç ise makinelerin boşta bekleme süresini en aza indirmektir. BATÇ problemlerinin çoğunluğunda toplam gecikmenin ve maksimum tamamlanma zamanının minimizasyonu olmak üzere, iki performans ölçüsü göz önünde bulundurulur. Literatürde, son yirmi beş yılda BATÇ ile ilgili yapılan çalışmalar analiz edilmiştir. BATÇ problemlerinin çözümü ile ilgili geliştirilen kesin ve yaklaşık çözüm veren yöntemler incelenmiştir. Literatürde 1 ve 2 makineli problemler için optimum çözüm veren matematiksel yöntemler bulunurken, 3 ve daha fazla makineli problemler için standart zamanda optimum çözüm veren bir yöntem bulunmamaktadır. Kabul edilebilir bir süre içerisinde m makine içeren problemlere optimum ya da optimuma yakın çözümler üretebilmek için sezgisel ve meta sezgisel yöntemler geliştirilmektedir. Bu çalışmada, BATÇ problemlerinin çözümü için Hibrit Dağınık Arama (HDA) yöntemi önerilmiştir. Önerilen yöntem, literatürde iyi bilinen kıyaslama problemleri yardımı ile test edilmiştir. Elde edilen sonuçlar, Hibrit Uyarlanabilir Öğrenme Yaklaşım (HUÖY) algoritması ve Hibrit Karınca Kolonileri Optimizasyon (HKKO) algoritması ile kıyaslanmıştır. Amaç fonksiyonu olarak maksimum tamamlanma zamanının minimizasyonu seçilmiştir. Elde edilen çözüm sonuçları, önerilen HDA yönteminin BATÇ problemlerinin çözümünde etkili olduğunu göstermiştir.No-wait flow shop (NWFS) is extensively research area due to its practical applications. In NWFS, jobs are processed in machines without interruption. During the schedule period, machines can wait, but jobs cannot wait. The aim is to minimize the idle time for machines. The majority of NWFS, two performance measures are consid-ered: minimization of total delay and minimization of the makespan. The researches on the NWFS in the last twenty-five years have been analysed from the literature. The methods developed for the solution of the NWFS, which give exact and approximate solutions, have been examined. While there are mathematical methods that give optimum solutions for 1 and 2 machine problems in the literature, there is no method that provides optimum solutions in standard time for problems with 3 or more machines. The difference methods are developed in order to produce optimum or near-optimum solutions to m-machine problems in an acceptable time. A Hybrid Scatter Search Method (HSSM) is proposed for solving the NWFS. The developed HSSM tested with the well-known benchmarking instances in the literature. The results obtained were compared with the Hybrid Adaptive Learning Approach algorithm and the Hybrid Ant Colonies Optimization algorithm. The objective function is makespan minimization. According to solutions, the proposed HSSM is an effective metaheuristic to solve NWFS

Courses timetabling based on hill climbing algorithm

In addition to its monotonous nature and excessive time requirements, the manual school timetable scheduling often leads to more than one class being assigned to the same instructor, or more than one instructor being assigned to the same classroom during the same slot time, or even leads to exercise in intentional partialities in favor of a particular group of instructors. In this paper, an automated school timetable scheduling is presented to help overcome the traditional conflicts inherent in the manual scheduling approach. In this approach, hill climbing algorithms have been modified to transact hard and soft constraints. Soft constraints are not easy to be satisfied typically, but hard constraints are obligated. The implementation of this technique has been successfully experimented in different schools with various kinds of side constraints. Results show that the initial solution can be improved by 72% towards the optimal solution within the first 5 seconds and by 50% from the second iteration while the optimal solution will be achieved after 15 iterations ensuring that more than 50% of scientific courses will take place in the early slots time while more than 50% of non-scientific courses will take place during the later time's slots

Energy Efficient Policies, Scheduling, and Design for Sustainable Manufacturing Systems

Climate mitigation, more stringent regulations, rising energy costs, and sustainable manufacturing are pushing researchers to focus on energy efficiency, energy flexibility, and implementation of renewable energy sources in manufacturing systems. This thesis aims to analyze the main works proposed regarding these hot topics, and to fill the gaps in the literature. First, a detailed literature review is proposed. Works regarding energy efficiency in different manufacturing levels, in the assembly line, energy saving policies, and the implementation of renewable energy sources are analyzed. Then, trying to fill the gaps in the literature, different topics are analyzed more in depth. In the single machine context, a mathematical model aiming to align the manufacturing power required to a renewable energy supply in order to obtain the maximum profit is developed. The model is applied to a single work center powered by the electric grid and by a photovoltaic system; afterwards, energy storage is also added to the power system. Analyzing the job shop context, switch off policies implementing workload approach and scheduling considering variable speed of the machines and power constraints are proposed. The direct and indirect workloads of the machines are considered to support the switch on/off decisions. A simulation model is developed to test the proposed policies compared to others presented in the literature. Regarding the job shop scheduling, a fixed and variable power constraints are considered, assuming the minimization of the makespan as the objective function. Studying the factory level, a mathematical model to design a flow line considering the possibility of using switch-off policies is developed. The design model for production lines includes a targeted imbalance among the workstations to allow for defined idle time. Finally, the main findings, results, and the future directions and challenges are presented

Theoretical and Computational Research in Various Scheduling Models

Nine manuscripts were published in this Special Issue on “Theoretical and Computational Research in Various Scheduling Models, 2021” of the MDPI Mathematics journal, covering a wide range of topics connected to the theory and applications of various scheduling models and their extensions/generalizations. These topics include a road network maintenance project, cost reduction of the subcontracted resources, a variant of the relocation problem, a network of activities with generally distributed durations through a Markov chain, idea on how to improve the return loading rate problem by integrating the sub-tour reversal approach with the method of the theory of constraints, an extended solution method for optimizing the bi-objective no-idle permutation flowshop scheduling problem, the burn-in (B/I) procedure, the Pareto-scheduling problem with two competing agents, and three preemptive Pareto-scheduling problems with two competing agents, among others. We hope that the book will be of interest to those working in the area of various scheduling problems and provide a bridge to facilitate the interaction between researchers and practitioners in scheduling questions. Although discrete mathematics is a common method to solve scheduling problems, the further development of this method is limited due to the lack of general principles, which poses a major challenge in this research field