Scheduling optimization of a real flexible job shop including side constraints regarding maintenance, fixtures, and night shifts

We present a generic iterative scheduling procedure for the scheduling of a real flexible job shop, the so-called multitask cell at GKN Aerospace Engine Systems in Sweden. A time-indexed formulation of the problem is presented including side constraints regarding preventive maintenance, fixture availability, and unmanned night shifts. This paper continues the work in Thörnblad et … Read more

A competitive iterative procedure using a time-indexed model for solving flexible job shop scheduling problems

We investigate the efficiency of a discretization procedure utilizing a time-indexed mathematical optimization model for finding accurate solutions to flexible job shop scheduling problems considering objectives comprising the makespan and the tardiness of jobs, respectively. The time-indexed model is used to find solutions to these problems by iteratively employing time steps of decreasing length. The … Read more

The opportunistic replacement problem: analysis and case studies

We consider an optimization model for determining optimal opportunistic maintenance (that is, component replacement) schedules when data is deterministic. This problem generalizes that of Dickman, Epstein, and Wilamowsky [21] and is a natural starting point for the modelling of replacement schedules when component lives are non-deterministic. We show that this basic opportunistic replacement problem is … Read more