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Operational Decisions in AGV-Served Flowshop Loops: Scheduling

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Abstract

This paper considers operational issues that arise in repetitive manufacturing systems served by automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in loops with unidirectional material flow. The objective considered is the minimization of the steady state cycle time required to produce a minimal job set (or equivalently, throughput rate maximization). Our models allow for delays caused by AGV conflicts. We define and analyze three nondominated and widely used AGV dispatching policies. For each policy, we describe algorithms and intractability results for combined job scheduling and material handling problems. We describe a genetic algorithm that estimates the cycle time within 5% on average for instances with up to 10 machines and four AGVs. Some related fleet sizing and loop decomposition issues are discussed in the companion paper [19].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Ohio State University, USA

    Nicholas G. Hall

  2. The University of Texas at Dallas, USA

    Chelliah Sriskandarajah

  3. ADGA Consulting, Ottawa, Canada

    Tharmarajah Ganesharajah

Authors
  1. Nicholas G. Hall
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  2. Chelliah Sriskandarajah
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  3. Tharmarajah Ganesharajah
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Hall, N.G., Sriskandarajah, C. & Ganesharajah, T. Operational Decisions in AGV-Served Flowshop Loops: Scheduling. Annals of Operations Research 107, 161–188 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014903232563

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