Joint optimization of flowshop sequence-dependent manufacturing cell scheduling and preventive maintenance

Considering the effects of machine breakdown and preventative maintenance (PM)on production scheduling in flowshop manufacturing cells, this paper focuses on investigating the joint optimization problem of flowshop sequence-dependent manufacturing cell scheduling and PM. A joint model is proposed and it aims to find the optimal production sequence of job families and individual jobs within each family and the optimal PM decisions before each job such that the sum of tardiness cost of jobs, PM and minimal repair cost of machines is minimized. A genetic algorithm-based approach is developed to solve the joint problem. Elitism strategy and local search are applied. The numerical results reveal the potential benefits of the consideration of PM and the integration of production scheduling and PM. Further experiments show elitism strategy and local search are important for improving the performance of the proposed approach.