491 research outputs found
Balancing labor requirements in a manufacturing environment
āThis research examines construction environments within manufacturing facilities, specifically semiconductor manufacturing facilities, and develops a new optimization method that is scalable for large construction projects with multiple execution modes and resource constraints. The model is developed to represent real-world conditions in which project activities do not have a fixed, prespecified duration but rather a total amount of work that is directly impacted by the level of resources assigned. To expand on the concept of resource driven project durations, this research aims to mimic manufacturing construction environments by allowing a non-continuous resource allocation to project tasks. This concept allows for resources to shift between projects in order to achieve the optimal result for the project manager. Our model generates a novel multi-objective resource constrained project scheduling problem. Specifically, two objectives are studied; the minimization of the total direct labor cost and the minimization of the resource leveling. This research will utilize multiple techniques to achieve resource leveling and discuss the advantage each one provides to the project team, as well as a comparison of the Pareto Fronts between the given resource leveling and cost minimization objective functions. Finally, a heuristic is developed utilizing partial linear relaxation to scale the optimization model for large scale projects. The computation results from multiple randomly generated case studies show that the new heuristic method is capable of generating high quality solutions at significantly less computational timeā--Abstract, page iv
Theoretical and Computational Research in Various Scheduling Models
Nine manuscripts were published in this Special Issue on āTheoretical and Computational Research in Various Scheduling Models, 2021ā 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
Planning and Scheduling Optimization
Although planning and scheduling optimization have been explored in the literature for many years now, it still remains a hot topic in the current scientific research. The changing market trends, globalization, technical and technological progress, and sustainability considerations make it necessary to deal with new optimization challenges in modern manufacturing, engineering, and healthcare systems. This book provides an overview of the recent advances in different areas connected with operations research models and other applications of intelligent computing techniques used for planning and scheduling optimization. The wide range of theoretical and practical research findings reported in this book confirms that the planning and scheduling problem is a complex issue that is present in different industrial sectors and organizations and opens promising and dynamic perspectives of research and development
Algorithms for Scheduling Problems
This edited book presents new results in the area of algorithm development for different types of scheduling problems. In eleven chapters, algorithms for single machine problems, flow-shop and job-shop scheduling problems (including their hybrid (flexible) variants), the resource-constrained project scheduling problem, scheduling problems in complex manufacturing systems and supply chains, and workflow scheduling problems are given. The chapters address such subjects as insertion heuristics for energy-efficient scheduling, the re-scheduling of train traffic in real time, control algorithms for short-term scheduling in manufacturing systems, bi-objective optimization of tortilla production, scheduling problems with uncertain (interval) processing times, workflow scheduling for digital signal processor (DSP) clusters, and many more
Optimization Algorithms in Project Scheduling
Scheduling, or planning in a general perspective, is the backbone of project management; thus, the successful implementation of project scheduling is a key factor to projectsā success. Due to its complexity and challenging nature, scheduling has become one of the most famous research topics within the operational research context, and it has been widely researched in practical applications within various industries, especially manufacturing, construction, and computer engineering. Accordingly, the literature is rich with many implementations of different optimization algorithms and their extensions within the project scheduling problem (PSP) analysis field. This study is intended to exhibit the general modelling of the PSP, and to survey the implementations of various optimization algorithms adopted for solving the different types of the PSP
Quantification of uncertainty of geometallurgical variables for mine planning optimisation
Interest in geometallurgy has increased significantly over the past 15 years or
so because of the benefits it brings to mine planning and operation. Its use
and integration into design, planning and operation is becoming increasingly
critical especially in the context of declining ore grades and increasing mining
and processing costs.
This thesis, comprising four papers, offers methodologies and methods to
quantify geometallurgical uncertainty and enrich the block model with geometallurgical
variables, which contribute to improved optimisation of mining
operations. This enhanced block model is termed a geometallurgical block
model.
Bootstrapped non-linear regression models by projection pursuit were built
to predict grindability indices and recovery, and quantify model uncertainty.
These models are useful for populating the geometallurgical block model with
response attributes. New multi-objective optimisation formulations for block
caving mining were formulated and solved by a meta-heuristics solver focussing
on maximising the project revenue and, at the same time, minimising
several risk measures. A novel clustering method, which is able to use
both continuous and categorical attributes and incorporate expert knowledge,
was also developed for geometallurgical domaining which characterises the
deposit according to its metallurgical response. The concept of geometallurgical
dilution was formulated and used for optimising production scheduling in
an open-pit case study.Thesis (Ph.D.) (Research by Publication) -- University of Adelaide, School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, 201
Optimization Models and Approximate Algorithms for the Aerial Refueling Scheduling and Rescheduling Problems
The Aerial Refueling Scheduling Problem (ARSP) can be defined as determining the refueling completion times for fighter aircrafts (jobs) on multiple tankers (machines) to minimize the total weighted tardiness. ARSP can be modeled as a parallel machine scheduling with release times and due date-to-deadline window. ARSP assumes that the jobs have different release times, due dates, and due date-to-deadline windows between the refueling due date and a deadline to return without refueling. The Aerial Refueling Rescheduling Problem (ARRP), on the other hand, can be defined as updating the existing AR schedule after being disrupted by job related events including the arrival of new aircrafts, departure of an existing aircrafts, and changes in aircraft priorities. ARRP is formulated as a multiobjective optimization problem by minimizing the total weighted tardiness (schedule quality) and schedule instability. Both ARSP and ARRP are formulated as mixed integer programming models. The objective function in ARSP is a piecewise tardiness cost that takes into account due date-to-deadline windows and job priorities. Since ARSP is NP-hard, four approximate algorithms are proposed to obtain solutions in reasonable computational times, namely (1) apparent piecewise tardiness cost with release time rule (APTCR), (2) simulated annealing starting from random solution (SArandom ), (3) SA improving the initial solution constructed by APTCR (SAAPTCR), and (4) Metaheuristic for Randomized Priority Search (MetaRaPS). Additionally, five regeneration and partial repair algorithms (MetaRE, BestINSERT, SEPRE, LSHIFT, and SHUFFLE) were developed for ARRP to update instantly the current schedule at the disruption time. The proposed heuristic algorithms are tested in terms of solution quality and CPU time through computational experiments with randomly generated data to represent AR operations and disruptions. Effectiveness of the scheduling and rescheduling algorithms are compared to optimal solutions for problems with up to 12 jobs and to each other for larger problems with up to 60 jobs. The results show that, APTCR is more likely to outperform SArandom especially when the problem size increases, although it has significantly worse performance than SA in terms of deviation from optimal solution for small size problems. Moreover CPU time performance of APTCR is significantly better than SA in both cases. MetaRaPS is more likely to outperform SAAPTCR in terms of average error from optimal solutions for both small and large size problems. Results for small size problems show that MetaRaPS algorithm is more robust compared to SAAPTCR. However, CPU time performance of SA is significantly better than MetaRaPS in both cases. ARRP experiments were conducted with various values of objective weighting factor for extended analysis. In the job arrival case, MetaRE and BestINSERT have significantly performed better than SEPRE in terms of average relative error for small size problems. In the case of job priority disruption, there is no significant difference between MetaRE, BestINSERT, and SHUFFLE algorithms. MetaRE has significantly performed better than LSHIFT to repair job departure disruptions and significantly superior to the BestINSERT algorithm in terms of both relative error and computational time for large size problems
The bi-objective travelling salesman problem with profits and its connection to computer networks.
This is an interdisciplinary work in Computer Science and Operational Research. As it is
well known, these two very important research fields are strictly connected. Among other
aspects, one of the main areas where this interplay is strongly evident is Networking. As far
as most recent decades have seen a constant growing of every kind of network computer connections,
the need for advanced algorithms that help in optimizing the network performances
became extremely relevant. Classical Optimization-based approaches have been deeply studied
and applied since long time. However, the technology evolution asks for more flexible and
advanced algorithmic approaches to model increasingly complex network configurations. In
this thesis we study an extension of the well known Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP): the
Traveling Salesman Problem with Profits (TSPP). In this generalization, a profit is associated
with each vertex and it is not necessary to visit all vertices. The goal is to determine
a route through a subset of nodes that simultaneously minimizes the travel cost and maximizes
the collected profit. The TSPP models the problem of sending a piece of information
through a network where, in addition to the sending costs, it is also important to consider
what āprofitā this information can get during its routing. Because of its formulation, the
right way to tackled the TSPP is by Multiobjective Optimization algorithms. Within this
context, the aim of this work is to study new ways to solve the problem in both the exact
and the approximated settings, giving all feasible instruments that can help to solve it, and
to provide experimental insights into feasible networking instances
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