A study on production lines with discrete batch WIP inventory transfer

Cataloged from PDF version of article.In this paper we consider asynchronous serial lines in which WIP inventory is stored and transported in containers between stations. Containers may be scarce resources; they may cause a reduction in the capacity utilization of the line. The WIP inventory transfer considered involves determining the number of containers to allocate to each buffer location, the interstation distances and the container size. Some conclusions are drawn that may be utilized as guidelines for the practitioners designing such lines. ( 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

A goal programming approach to mixed model assembly line balancing problem

Cataloged from PDF version of article.In this paper, a binary goal programming model for the mixed-model assembly line balancing (ALB) problem is developed. The model is based on the concepts developed by Patterson and Albracht [l] and the model of Deckro and Rangachari [2] developed for the single-model ALB problem. The proposed model provides a considerable amount of flexibility to the decision maker since several conflicting goals can be simultaneously considered

Shortest route formulation of mixed-model assembly line balancing problem

Cataloged from PDF version of article.A shortest-route formulation of the mixed-model assembly line balancing problem is presented. Common tasks across models are assumed to exist and these tasks are performed in the same stations. The formulation is based on an algorithm which solves the single-model version of the problem. The mixed-model system is transformed into a singlemodel system with a combined precedence diagram. The model is capable of considering any constraint that can be expressed as a function of task assignments. Ó 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Optimal timing of project control points

Cataloged from PDF version of article.The project control cycle consists of measuring the status of the project, comparing to the plan, analysis of the deviations, and implementing any appropriate corrective actions. We present an analytical framework for determining the optimal timing of project control points throughout the life cycle of the project. Our approach is based on maximizing the amount of information generated by the control points, which depends on the intensity of the activities carried out since the last control point and on the time elapsed since their execution. The optimization problem is solved with a dynamic programming approach. We report the results of numerical experimentation with the model involving di erent types of activity intensity pro®les and several levels of information loss. For each combination, we compared the optimal amount of information to the amount of information obtained with two simpler policies: control at equal time intervals, and control at equal activity contents intervals. We also investigated the e ect of adding more control points on the amount of information generated. Ó 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Binary integer formulation for mixed-model assembly line balancing problem

Cataloged from PDF version of article.The assembly line balancing problem has been a focus of interest to the academicians of production/operations management for the last 40 years. Although there are numerous studies published on the various aspects of the problem, the number of studies on mixed-model assembly lines are relatively small. In this paper, a binary integer programming model for the mixed-model assembly line balancing problem is developed and some computational properties of the model are given. # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

FPTAS for half-products minimization with scheduling applications

Cataloged from PDF version of article.A special class of quadratic pseudo-boolean functions called “half-products” (HP) has recently been introduced. It has been shown that HP minimization, while NP-hard, admits a fully polynomial time approximation scheme (FPTAS). In this note, we provide a more efficient FPTAS. We further show how an FPTAS can also be derived for the general case where the HP function is augmented by a problem-dependent constant and can justifiably be assumed to be nonnegative. This leads to an FPTAS for certain partitioning type problems, including many from the field of scheduling. c 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Minimizing weighted mean absolute deviation of job completion times from their weighted mean

Cataloged from PDF version of article.We address a single-machine scheduling problem where the objective is to minimize the weighted mean absolute deviation of job completion times from their weighted mean. This problem and its precursors aim to achieve the maximum admissible level of service equity. It has been shown earlier that the unweighted version of this problem is NP-hard in the ordinary sense. For that version, a pseudo-polynomial time dynamic program and a 2- approximate algorithm are available. However, not much (except for an important solution property) exists for the weighted version. In this paper, we establish the relationship between the optimal solution to the weighted problem and a related one in which the deviations are measured from the weighted median (rather than the mean) of the job completion times; this generalizes the 2-approximation result mentioned above. We proceed to give a pseudo-polynomial time dynamic program, establishing the ordinary NP-hardness of the problem in general. We then present a fully-polynomial time approximation scheme as well. Finally, we report the findings from a limited computational study on the heuristic solution of the general problem. Our results specialize easily to the unweighted case; they also lead to an approximation of the set of schedules that are efficient with respect to both the weighted mean absolute deviation and the weighted mean completion time. 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Customer order scheduling on a single machine with family setup times: complexity and algorithms

Cataloged from PDF version of article.We consider a situation where C customers each order various quantities (possibly zero in some cases) of products from P different families, which can be produced on a continuously available machine in any sequence (requiring a setup whenever production switches from one family to another). We assume that the time needed for a setup depends only on the family to be produced immediately after it, and we follow the item availability model (which implies that all units are ready for dispatch as soon as they are produced). However, an order is shipped only when all units required by a customer are ready. The time from the start (time zero) to the completion of a customer order is called the order lead time. The problem, which restates the original description of the customer order scheduling problem, entails finding a production schedule that will minimize the total order lead time. While this problem has received some attention in the literature, its complexity status has remained vexingly open. In this note, we show for the first time that the problem is strongly NP-hard. We proceed to give dynamic programming based exact solution algorithms for the general problem and a special case (where C is fixed). These algorithms allow us to solve small instances of the problem and understand the problem complexity more fully. In particular, the solution of the special case shows that the problem is solvable in polynomial time when C is fixed. 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Multicriteria inventory classification using a genetic algorithm

Cataloged from PDF version of article.One of the application areas of genetic algorithms is parameter optimization. This paper addresses the problem of optimizing a set of parameters that represent the weights of criteria, where the sum of all weights is 1. A chromosome represents the values of the weights, possibly along with some cut-off points. A new crossover operation, called continuous uniform crossover, is proposed, such that it produces valid chromosomes given that the parent chromosomes are valid. The new crossover technique is applied to the problem of multicriteria inventory classification. The results are compared with the classical inventory classification technique using the Analytical Hierarchy Process. @ 1998 Elsevier Science B.V

Batch Scheduling to minimize the weighted number of tardy jobs

Cataloged from PDF version of article.In this paper, we address a single-machine scheduling problem with due dates and batch setup times to minimize the weighted number of tardy jobs. We give a pseudo-polynomial dynamic program and a fully-polynomial approximation scheme for the case where the due dates are uniform within a family. 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved