An efficient search method for job-shop scheduling problems

We present an efficient search method for job-shop scheduling problems. Our technique is based on an innovative way of relaxing and subsequently reimposing the capacity constraints on some critical operations. We integrate this technique into a fast tabu search algorithm. Our computational results on benchmark problems show that this approach is very effective. Upper bounds for 11 well-known test problems are thus improved. Through the work presented We hope to move a step closer to the ultimate vision of an automated system for generating optimal or near-optimal production schedules. The peripheral conditions for such a system are ripe with the increasingly widespread adoption of enterprise information systems and plant floor tracking systems based on bar code or wireless technologies. One of the remaining obstacles, however, is the fact that scheduling problems arising from many production environments, including job-shops, are extremely difficult to solve. Motivated by recent success of local search methods in solving the job-shop scheduling problem, we propose a new diversification technique based on relaxing and subsequently reimposing the capacity constraints on some critical operations. We integrate this technique into a fast tabu search algorithm and are able to demonstrate its effectiveness through extensive computational experiments. In future research, we will consider other diversification techniques that are not restricted to critical operations.