Optimization of bi-directional press line scheduling based on hybrid genetic algorithm

This paper addressed the scheduling problem in a press job shop environment. A heuristic-based scheduling model is proposed by analyzing the characteristics of bi-directional press line. The objective is to improve the machine utilization rates and to balance the load of production lines, with the consideration of machine constraints, operation constraints and batch constraints. A novel heuristic rule is proposed to conduct machine allocation, which is incorporated into genetic algorithm to address the press job shop scheduling problem. Experiments results showed that the proposed algorithm can achieve good performance.