Heuristics for periodical batch job scheduling in a MapReduce computing framework

Task scheduling has a significant impact on the performance of the MapReduce computing framework. In this paper, a scheduling problem of periodical batch jobs with makespan minimization is considered. The problem is modeled as a general two-stage hybrid flow shop scheduling problem with schedule-dependent setup times. The new model incorporates the data locality of tasks and is formulated as an integer program. Three heuristics are developed to solve the problem and an improvement policy based on data locality is presented to enhance the methods. A lower bound of the makespan is derived. 150 instances are randomly generated from data distributions drawn from a real cluster. The parameters involved in the methods are set according to different cluster setups. The proposed heuristics are compared over different numbers of jobs and cluster setups. Computational results show that the performance of the methods is highly dependent on both the number of jobs and the cluster setups. The proposed improvement policy is effective and the impact of the input data distribution on the policy is analyzed and tested.This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61272377) and the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (No. 20120092110027). Ruben Ruiz is partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, under the project "RESULT - Realistic Extended Scheduling Using Light Techniques" (No. DPI2012-36243-C02-01) partially financed with FEDER funds.Xiaoping Li; Tianze Jiang; Ruiz García, R. (2016). Heuristics for periodical batch job scheduling in a MapReduce computing framework. Information Sciences. 326:119-133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ins.2015.07.040S11913332

A survey of scheduling problems with setup times or costs

Author name used in this publication: C. T. NgAuthor name used in this publication: T. C. E. Cheng2007-2008 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

An estimation of distribution algorithm for lot-streaming flow shop problems with setup times

Lot-streaming flow shops have important applications in different industries including textile, plastic, chemical, semiconductor and many others. This paper considers an n-job m-machine lot-streaming flow shop scheduling problem with sequence-dependent setup times under both the idling and noidling production cases. The objective is to minimize the maximum completion time or makespan. To solve this important practical problem, a novel estimation of distribution algorithm (EDA) is proposed with a job permutation based representation. In the proposed EDA, an efficient initialization scheme based on the NEH heuristic is presented to construct an initial population with a certain level of quality and diversity. An estimation of a probabilistic model is constructed to direct the algorithm search towards good solutions by taking into account both job permutation and similar blocks of jobs. A simple but effective local search is added to enhance the intensification capability. A diversity controlling mechanism is applied to maintain the diversity of the population. In addition, a speed-up method is presented to reduce the computational effort needed for the local search technique and the NEH-based heuristics. A comparative evaluation is carried out with the best performing algorithms from the literature. The results show that the proposed EDA is very effective in comparison after comprehensive computational and statistical analyses.This research is partially supported by the National Science Foundation of China (60874075, 70871065), and Science Foundation of Shandong Province in China under Grant BS2010DX005, and Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China under Grant 20100480897. Ruben Ruiz is partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, under the project "SMPA-Advanced Parallel Multiobjective Sequencing: Practical and Theoretical Advances" with reference DPI2008-03511/DPI and by the IMPIVA-Institute for the Small and Medium Valencian Enterprise, for the project OSC with references IMIDIC/2008/137, IMIDIC/2009/198 and IMIDIC/2010/175.Pan, Q.; Ruiz García, R. (2012). An estimation of distribution algorithm for lot-streaming flow shop problems with setup times. Omega. 40(2):166-180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omega.2011.05.002S16618040

Flexible Job Shop Scheduling with Sequence-dependent Setup and Transportation Times by Ant Colony with Reinforced Pheromone Relationships

This paper proposes a swarm intelligence approach based on a disjunctive graph model in order to schedule a manufacturing system with resource flexibility and separable setup times. Resource flexibility assigns each operation to one of the alternative resources (assigning sub-problem) and, consequently, arranges the operation in the right sequence of the assigned resource (sequencing sub-problem) in order to minimize the makespan. Resource flexibility is mandatory for rescheduling a manufacturing system after unforeseen events which modify resource availability. The proposed method considers parallel (related) machines and enforces in a single step both the assigning and sequencing sub-problems. A neighboring function on the disjunctive graph is enhanced by means of a reinforced relation-learning model of pheromone involving more effective machine-sequence constraints and a dynamic visibility function. It also considers the overlap between the jobs feeding and the machine (anticipatory) setup times. It involves separable sequence-independent and dependent setup phases. The algorithm performance is evaluated by modifying the well-known benchmark problems for JOB shop scheduling. Comparison with other systems and lower bounds of benchmark problems has been performed. Statistical tests highlight how the approach is very promising. The performance achieved when the system addresses the complete problem is quite close to that obtained in the case of the classical job-shop problem. This fact makes the system effective in coping with the exponential complexity especially for sequence dependent setup times

Production Scheduling

Generally speaking, scheduling is the procedure of mapping a set of tasks or jobs (studied objects) to a set of target resources efficiently. More specifically, as a part of a larger planning and scheduling process, production scheduling is essential for the proper functioning of a manufacturing enterprise. This book presents ten chapters divided into five sections. Section 1 discusses rescheduling strategies, policies, and methods for production scheduling. Section 2 presents two chapters about flow shop scheduling. Section 3 describes heuristic and metaheuristic methods for treating the scheduling problem in an efficient manner. In addition, two test cases are presented in Section 4. The first uses simulation, while the second shows a real implementation of a production scheduling system. Finally, Section 5 presents some modeling strategies for building production scheduling systems. This book will be of interest to those working in the decision-making branches of production, in various operational research areas, as well as computational methods design. People from a diverse background ranging from academia and research to those working in industry, can take advantage of this volume

Serial-batch scheduling – the special case of laser-cutting machines

The dissertation deals with a problem in the field of short-term production planning, namely the scheduling of laser-cutting machines. The object of decision is the grouping of production orders (batching) and the sequencing of these order groups on one or more machines (scheduling). This problem is also known in the literature as "batch scheduling problem" and belongs to the class of combinatorial optimization problems due to the interdependencies between the batching and the scheduling decisions. The concepts and methods used are mainly from production planning, operations research and machine learning