Heuristics for solving flow shop scheduling problem under resources constraints

Abstract : Most of traditional scheduling problems deal with machine as the only resource, however, other resources such as raw materials is often disregards. Considering the second resource makes scheduling problems more realistic and practical to implement in manufacturing industries. Due to the applicability of flow shop environment in different manufacturing, scheduling of these types of shops are extensively studied by several authors. However, introducing an additional resource in this environment is not well studied. The present work deals with makespan minimization in flow shop scheduling problems where no renewable resources constraints are considered. The paper illustrates the importance of Johnson (1954) algorithm for the two machine flow shop under resources constraints. A mathematical model is also presented. Then a well-know heuristic is adapted to propose fast solution for the m machines flow shop problem subject to resource constraint.