Evolutionary algorithm for advanced process planning and scheduling in a multi-plant

Integration of process planning and scheduling is one of the most important functions to support flexible planning in a multi-plant. The planning and scheduling are actually interrelated and should be solved simultaneously. In this paper, we propose an advanced process planning and scheduling model for the multi-plant. The objective of the model is to decide the schedules for minimizing makespan and operation sequences with machine selections considering precedence constraints, flexible sequences, and alternative machines. The problem is formulated as a mathematical model, and an evolutionary algorithm is developed to solve the model. Numerous experiments are carried out to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach.