A two-machine flowshop scheduling problem with a separated maintenance constraint

This paper considers a two-machine flowshop scheduling problem with a separated maintenance constraint. This means that the machine may not always be available during the scheduling period. It needs a constant time to maintain the machine after completing a fixed number of jobs at most. The objective is to find the optimal job combinations and the optimal job schedule such that the makespan is minimized. The proposed problem has some practical applications, for example, in electroplating process, the electrolytic cell needs to be cleaned and made up a deficiency of medicine. In this paper, we propose a heuristic algorithm to solve this problem. Some polynomially solvable cases and computational experiments are also provided. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.