A GA-based scheduling algorithm on parallel machines with heterogeneous mounted molds

In this paper, we discuss the scheduling problem of assigning jobs on multiple parallel machines with mold constraints. The mold constraint specifies that each job needs to be processed with specific molds on a machine and there is an arbitrary amount for each type of molds. Besides, different machines can mount different molds. Setup time is also considered when a first job in a machine starts or when a machine changes molds. A GA-based scheduling algorithm is thus proposed for dealing with the above scheduling problem. Experimental results are also given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.