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An ensemble discrete water wave optimization algorithm for the blocking flow-shop scheduling problem with makespan criterion

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Abstract

Production scheduling plays a pivotal role in smart factories due to the development of intelligent manufacturing. As a typical scheduling problem, the blocking flow-shop scheduling problem (BFSP) has attracted enormous attention from researchers. In this paper, an ensemble discrete water wave optimization algorithm (EDWWO) is proposed with the criterion to minimize the makespan. In the proposed algorithm, a constructive heuristic is presented to suit the needs of initial solutions quality. The constructive heuristic is based on a new dispatching rule combined with the well-known NEH heuristic. The algorithmic characteristics are explored and effective technologies, such as data-driven mechanism in the propagation phase, a block-shifting operator based on the framework of the variable neighborhood search in the breaking phase, and perturbation strategy, are employed to improve the performance of the algorithm. The effectiveness of operators and parameters in EDWWO are analyzed and calibrated based on the design of experiments. To evaluate the algorithmic performance, the well-known benchmark problem is adopted for comparison with five other state-of-the-art algorithms. Meanwhile, the statistical validity of the results is investigated by introducing the Friedman-test and Wilcoxon-test. The statistical results demonstrate the effectiveness of EDWWO for solving the BFSP.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant 62063021. It was also supported by the Key talent project of Gansu Province (ZZ2021G50700016), the Key Research Programs of Science and Technology Commission Foundation of Gansu Province (21YF5WA086), Lanzhou Science Bureau project (2018-rc-98), and Project of Gansu Natural Science Foundation (21JR7RA204), respectively.

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  1. School of Computer and Communication, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou, 730050, China

    Fuqing Zhao, Dongqu Shao, Tianpeng Xu & Ningning Zhu

  2. Department of Industrial Engineering, Universitas Andalas, Padang, 25163, Indonesia

    Jonrinaldi

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Zhao, F., Shao, D., Xu, T. et al. An ensemble discrete water wave optimization algorithm for the blocking flow-shop scheduling problem with makespan criterion. Appl Intell 52, 15824–15843 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10489-022-03236-6

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