Algorithms for the flexible cyclic jobshop problem

Abstract

This paper considers the cyclic jobshop problem in a flexible context where is objective is to find the minimum cycle time of a periodic schedule. The flexibility feature comes from the ability of the machines or robots to perform several kinds of tasks. Hence, the scheduling problem does not only concern starting time of tasks but also on which machines the tasks will be performed. We propose an exact method to solve this problem and two heuristics.