3 research outputs found
Backtracking and exchange of information: Methods to enhance a beam search algorithm for assembly line scheduling
Cataloged from PDF version of article.Beam search (BS) is used as a heuristic to solve various combinatorial optimization problems, ranging from scheduling
to assembly line balancing. In this paper, we develop a backtracking and an exchange-of-information (EOI) procedure to
enhance the traditional beam search method. The backtracking enables us to return to previous solution states in the
search process with the expectation of obtaining better solutions. The EOI is used to transfer information accumulated
in a beam to other beams to yield improved solutions.
We developed six different versions of enhanced beam algorithms to solve the mixed-model assembly line scheduling
problem. The results of computational experiments indicate that the backtracking and EOI procedures that utilize problem
specific information generally improve the solution quality of BS.
2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved