Batch-scheduling problems to minimize inventory cost in the shop with both receiving and delivery just-in-times

If the shop capacity is tight, it may not be possible to make a schedule that leads the completion times of all the parts processed in the shop to be exactly at their due dates. As a result, the shop may have to incur a holding cost for the parts finished earlier. This paper addresses a multi-due-date heterogeneous machine batch-scheduling problem to minimize the holding cost under the condition that parts to be processed should arrive a the production line just-in-time and that completed parts should be delivered just-in-time. The procedure to solve the problem is an algorithm that divides the whole planning horizon into a number of partitions of periods, distributes the parts to the partitions, distributes the resulting distributions to the available machines, and solves the problem of batch scheduling on each machine. Numerical experience showing the characteristics of the problem is also presented.