A dual criteria sequencing problem with earliness and tardiness penalties

We consider the problem of sequencing n jobs on a single machine, with each job having a processing time and a common due date. The common due date is assumed to be so large that all jobs can complete by the due date. It is known that there is an O(n log n)‐time algorithm for finding a schedule with minimum total earliness and tardiness. In this article, we consider finding a schedule with dual criteria. The primary goal is to minimize the total earliness and tardiness. The secondary goals are to minimize: (1) the maximum earliness and tardiness; (2) the sum of the maximum of the squares of earliness and tardiness; (3) the sum of the squares of earliness and tardiness. For the first two criteria, we show that the problems are NP‐hard and we give a fully polynomial time approximation scheme for both of them. For the last two criteria, we show that the ratio of the worst schedule versus the best schedule is no more than . © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 49: 422–431, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/nav.10020     

Parallel machine scheduling with eligibility constraints: A composite dispatching rule to minimize total weighted tardiness

We study a parallel machine scheduling problem, where a job j can only be processed on a specific subset of machines M_j, and the M_j subsets of the n jobs are nested. We develop a two‐phase heuristic for minimizing the total weighted tardiness subject to the machine eligibility constraints. In the first phase, we compute the factors and statistics that characterize a problem instance. In the second phase, we propose a new composite dispatching rule, the Apparent Tardiness Cost with Flexibility considerations (ATCF) rule, which is governed by several scaling parameters of which the values are determined by the factors obtained in the first phase. The ATCF rule is a generalization of the well‐known ATC rule which is very widely used in practice. We further discuss how to improve the dispatching rule using some simple but powerful properties without requiring additional computation time, and the improvement is quite satisfactory. We apply the Sequential Uniform Design Method to design our experiments and conduct an extensive computational study, and we perform tests on the performance of the ATCF rule using a real data set from a large hospital in China. We further compare its performance with that of the classical ATC rule. We also compare the schedules improved by the ATCF rule with what we believe are Near Optimal schedules generated by a general search procedure. The computational results show that especially with a low due date tightness, the ATCF rule performs significantly better than the well‐known ATC rule generating much improved schedules that are close to the Near Optimal schedules. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 64: 249–267, 2017     

Single machine just‐in‐time scheduling problems with two competing agents

In scheduling problems with two competing agents, each one of the agents has his own set of jobs to be processed and his own objective function, and both share a common processor. In the single‐machine problem studied in this article, the goal is to find a joint schedule that minimizes the total deviation of the job completion times of the first agent from a common due‐date, subject to an upper bound on the maximum deviation of job completion times of the second agent. The problem is shown to be NP‐hard even for a nonrestrictive due‐date, and a pseudopolynomial dynamic program is introduced and tested numerically. For the case of a restrictive due‐date (a sufficiently small due‐date that may restrict the number of early jobs), a faster pseudopolynomial dynamic program is presented. We also study the multiagent case, which is proved to be strongly NP‐hard. A simple heuristic for this case is introduced, which is tested numerically against a lower bound, obtained by extending the dynamic programming algorithm. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 61: 1–16, 2014     

Flow shop scheduling with earliness,tardiness, and intermediate inventory holding costs

We consider the problem of scheduling customer orders in a flow shop with the objective of minimizing the sum of tardiness, earliness (finished goods inventory holding), and intermediate (work‐in‐process) inventory holding costs. We formulate this problem as an integer program, and based on approximate solutions to two different, but closely related, Dantzig‐Wolfe reformulations, we develop heuristics to minimize the total cost. We exploit the duality between Dantzig‐Wolfe reformulation and Lagrangian relaxation to enhance our heuristics. This combined approach enables us to develop two different lower bounds on the optimal integer solution, together with intuitive approaches for obtaining near‐optimal feasible integer solutions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that applies column generation to a scheduling problem with different types of strongly ????‐hard pricing problems which are solved heuristically. The computational study demonstrates that our algorithms have a significant speed advantage over alternate methods, yield good lower bounds, and generate near‐optimal feasible integer solutions for problem instances with many machines and a realistically large number of jobs. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2004.     

Minimizing weighted earliness and tardiness penalties in single‐machine scheduling with idle time permitted

In this paper, a single‐machine scheduling problem with weighted earliness and tardiness penalties is considered. Idle time between two adjacent jobs is permitted and due dates of jobs could be unequal. The dominance rules are utilized to develop a relationship matrix, which allows a branch‐and‐bound algorithm to eliminate a high percentage of infeasible solutions. After combining this matrix with a branching strategy, a procedure to solve the problem is proposed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 49: 760–780, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/nav.10039     

Scheduling multiple products on parallel machines with setup costs

We consider a class of production scheduling models with m identical machines in parallel and k different product types. It takes a time p_i to produce one unit of product type i on any one of the machines. There is a demand stream for product type i consisting of n_i units with each unit having a given due date. Before a machine starts with the production of a batch of products of type i a setup cost c is incurred. We consider several different objective functions. Each one of the objective functions has three components, namely a total setup cost, a total earliness cost, and a total tardiness cost. In our class of problems we find a relatively large number of problems that can be solved either in polynomial time or in pseudo‐polynomial time. The polynomiality or pseudo‐polynomiality is achieved under certain special conditions that may be of practical interest; for example, a regularity pattern in the string of due dates combined with earliness and tardiness costs that are similar for different types of products. The class of models we consider includes as special cases discrete counterparts of a number of inventory models that have been considered in the literature before, e.g., Wagner and Whitin (Manage Sci 5 (1958), 89–96) and Zangwill (Oper Res 14 (1966), 486–507; Manage Sci 15 (1969), 506–527). © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008     

Delivery‐date and capacity management in a decentralized internal market

We study competitive due‐date and capacity management between the marketing and engineering divisions within an engineer‐to‐order (ETO) firm. Marketing interacts directly with the customers and quotes due‐dates for their orders. Engineering is primarily concerned with the efficient utilization of resources and is willing to increase capacity if the cost is compensated. The two divisions share the responsibility for timely delivery of the jobs. We model the interaction between marketing and engineering as a Nash game and investigate the effect of internal competition on the equilibrium decisions. We observe that the internal competition not only degrades the firm's overall profitability but also the serviceability. Finally, we extend our analysis to multiple‐job settings that consider both flexible and inflexible capacity. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008     

Due‐window assignment with unit processing‐time jobs

In due‐window assignment problems, jobs completed within a designated time interval are regarded as being on time, whereas early and tardy jobs are penalized. The objective is to determine the location and size of the due‐window, as well as the job schedule. We address a common due‐window assignment problem on parallel identical machines with unit processing time jobs. We show that the number of candidate values for the optimal due‐window starting time and for the optimal due‐window completion time are bounded by 2. We also prove that the starting time of the first job on each of the machines is either 0 or 1, thus introducing a fairly simple, constant‐time solution for the problem. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2004     

On scheduling a single machine to minimize a piecewise linear objective function: A compact MIP formulation

We study the scheduling situation in which a set of jobs subjected to release dates and deadlines are to be performed on a single machine. The objective is to minimize a piecewise linear objective function ∑_jF_j where F_j(C_j) corresponds to the cost of the completion of job j at time C_j. This class of function is very large and thus interesting both from a theoretical and practical point of view: It can be used to model total (weighted) completion time, total (weighted) tardiness, earliness and tardiness, etc. We introduce a new Mixed Integer Program (MIP) based on time interval decomposition. Our MIP is closely related to the well‐known time‐indexed MIP formulation but uses much less variables and constraints. Experiments on academic benchmarks as well as on real‐life industrial problems show that our generic MIP formulation is efficient. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2009