We consider the problem of scheduling n jobs in a pallet-constrained two-machine flowshop so as to minimize the makespan. In such a flowshop environment, each job needs a pallet the entire time, from the start of its first operation until the completion of the last operation, and the number of...

We study the recently identified class of generalized due date scheduling problems. These are machine scheduling problems for which due dates are specified according to the position in which a job is completed, rather than the identity of that job. Flexible manufacturing environments and public...

We study the problem of minimizing makespan in a two-machine job shop with unit processing time operations. An efficient algorithm with respect to a succinct encoding of the problem instances is proposed. The algorithm is an improvement of earlier algorithms proposed for the problem by Brucker [...

We consider the scheduling problem of cyclic production in a bufferless dual-gripper robot cell processing a family of identical parts. The objective is to find an optimal sequence of robot moves so as to maximize the long-run average throughput rate of the cell. While there has been a...

Flexible robotic cells combine the capabilities of robotic flow shops with those of flexible manufacturing systems. In an m-machine flexible cell, each part visits each machine in the same order. However, the m operations can be performed in any order, and each machine can be configured to...

We investigate the impact of the process of manufacturing and distribution on the safety stock levels in a supply chain. A pipeline hedging method is used to derive a model for estimating the safety stock levels. We propose methods and guidelines to redesign the manufacturing and distribution...

We optimize a large country's currency supply network for its central bank. The central bank provides currency to all branches (who in turn serve consumers and commerce) through its network of big vaults, regional vaults, and retail vaults. The central bank intends to reduce its total...

Job shop scheduling with a bank of machines in parallel is important from both theoretical and practical points of review. Here we focus on a flexible job shop scheduling problem of minimizing the makespan in a two-center job shop, where the first center consists of one machine and the second...

Scheduling methods are proposed for a class of flexible manufacturing systems consisting of machine centers served by a cyclic conveyor. The minimization of finish time is considered as the optimization criterion. An optimal algorithm is proposed for the minimum conveyor speed (S = 1) for a...

Semiconductor manufacturing performed on expensive machines requires repetitive use of several similar processing operations. Owing to economic considerations, these expensive machines are always shared among many products or a product at different stages of its manufacturing process. The...