Solution of the distributed permutated flow shop scheduling problems and artificial bee colony algorithm

Abstract

In this study, distributed permutation flow type scheduling problems, whose purpose function is minimization of maximum completion time, are discussed. The difference of this problem from the classical flow-type scheduling problem is that jobs are distributed across multiple factories. Artificial bee colony algorithm, based on the foraging behavior of bees in the nature, was used to solve the problem. The NEH (Nawaz Enscore Ham) intuition has been used to produce the initial solutions of the algorithm. In the phases of the algorithm (worker, observer and explorer bee phase), the displacement method is used for neighboring solutions. In this method, different jobs were obtained by changing the positions of two randomly selected jobs. The success of the algorithm on the problem has been measured in the literature using Taillard's small and large test problems. The algorithm has been compared to 14 intuitive and has presented the best results. © 2020, TUBITAK. All rights reserved.