Uniform Parallel Machine Scheduling with Dedicated Machines, Job Splitting and Setup Resources

Abstract

This paper examines a uniform parallel machine scheduling problem in which jobs can be split arbitrary into multiple sections and such job sections can be processed on a set of dedicated machines simultaneously. Once a job type is changed, a setup performed by an operator is required. The setup time is sequence-independent, and the number of setup operators is limited. Machines conduct the same operation but have different speeds. The objective is to minimize the maximum completion time. This problem is motivated from real-life applications that manufacture automotive pistons in Korea. We propose efficient heuristic algorithms for this problem and show experimentally that the performance of the algorithms is good enough to be used in practice.