Hybrid PSO/DE solution for the earliness/tardiness case of hybrid flow-shop scheduling problem

In this paper, a hybrid method based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) and differential evolution (DE) algorithm is presented to solve the earliness tardiness (E/T) hybrid flow-shop scheduling problem (HFSP). PSO/DE is used to take global optimization. The local assignment rules are used to determine the job's starting time and processing sequence at each stage. The fitness function is constructed with considering the Earliness/Tardiness penalty in the optimal process of hybrid flow shop. Then the scheduling model of hybrid flow shop is obtained, the global assignment of production task can be realized, and each job's process route can be determined. Several scheme comparisons with experiment results show the better effectiveness of hybrid PSO/DE algorithm to solve E/T problem of HFSP.