Article ID: | iaor20062055 |
Country: | Netherlands |
Volume: | 165 |
Issue: | 2 |
Start Page Number: | 495 |
End Page Number: | 509 |
Publication Date: | Sep 2005 |
Journal: | European Journal of Operational Research |
Authors: | Neumann Klaus, Schwindt Christoph, Trautmann Norbert |
Keywords: | programming: dynamic |
This paper deals with scheduling batch (i.e., discontinuous), continuous, and semicontinuous production in process industries (e.g., chemical, pharmaceutical, or metal casting industries) where intermediate storage facilities and renewable resources (processing units and manpower) of limited capacity have to be observed. First, different storage configurations typical of process industries are discussed. Second, a basic scheduling problem covering the three above production modes is presented. Third, (exact and truncated) branch-and-bound methods for the basic scheduling problem and the special case of batch scheduling are proposed and subjected to an experimental performance analysis. The solution approach presented is flexible and in principle simple, and it can (approximately) solve relatively large problem instances with sufficient accuracy.