Discrete lot streaming in two-machine flow shops

Lot streaming is the process of splitting a job or lot to allow overlapping between successive operations in a multistage production system. This use of transfer lots usually results in a substantially shorter makespan for the corresponding schedule. The optimal splitting of large batches is especially important in automated or flexible manufacturing systems in order to realize the maximum speed up possible in the schedule. In this paper, we study the discrete version of the two-machine flow-shop problem to minimize the makespan. We present new insights into the structure of optimal schedules, which lead to an efficient solution for the problem.