Uniform parallel batch machines scheduling considering transportation using a hybrid DPSO-GA algorithm.

This paper investigates coordinated scheduling on uniform parallel batch machines with batch transportation. Jobs are characterized by different processing time and sizes, and they are first delivered to manufacturers in batches and then processed on the uniform parallel batch machines. The manufacturers are distributed in different geographic zones and there exists one parallel batch machine in each manufacturer. A mixed integer programming model is developed for the studied problem, and its objective is to minimize the makespan. In addition, the structural properties of the problem are analyzed. A hybrid algorithm combining the merits of discrete particle swarm optimization (DPSO) and genetic algorithm (GA) is proposed to solve this problem. In the hybrid algorithm, a heuristic and a local search strategy are introduced. Finally, computational experiments are conducted and the results show that the proposed hybrid algorithm can effectively and efficiently solve the problem within a reasonable time, particularly in large-scale instances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]