A production scheduling heuristic for an electronics manufacturer with sequence-dependent setup costs

A grasp for single machine scheduling with sequence dependent setup costs and linear delay penalties

In the location science, environmental effect becomes a new main consideration for site selection. For the unwanted facility location selection, decision makers should consider the cost of resolving the environmental conflict. We introduced the negative influence cost for the facility which was inversely proportional to distance between the facility and residents. An unwanted facility location problem was suggested to minimize the sum of the negative influence cost and the transportation cost. The objective cost function was analyzed as nonlinear type and was neither convex nor concave. Three GRASP (Greedy Randomized adaptive Search Procedure) methods as like Random_GRASP, Epsilon_GRASP and GRID_GRASP were developed to solve the unwanted facility location problem. The Newton's method for nonlinear optimization problem was used for local search in GRASP. Experimental results showed that quality of solution of the GRID_GRASP was better than those of Random_GRASP and Epsilon_GRASP. The calculation time of Random_GRASP and Epsilon_GRASP were faster than that of Grid_GRASP.

A greedy randomized adaptive search procedure (GRASP) for minimum 2-fold connected dominating set problem

Natural and triggered-disasters, have devastating and profound negative effects on human lives that require a speedy declaration of an emergency in order to minimize their severe consequences. Hence, a prompt disaster response, in addition to effective measures such as informed decision making, organized evacuation plan, right hospital selection, proper rescue vehicles, efficient resources assignment and timely vehicle scheduling are critical actions needed to organize successful secured operations that could, if well prepared, save many injured bodies and lessen the human distress. To reach this ultimate goal, a complicated procedure should be in place and any failure can potentially increase the number of causalities, thus a complete alertness and full caution should be exercised. In this paper, we treat the Integrated Problem of Ambulance Scheduling and Resource Assignment (IPASRA) in the case of a sudden disaster. The main resources to be assigned are the ambulances and the hospitals. While, the hospitals serving capacities might be considered or not according to the extent of disaster and particularly to the wounded bodies’ total number. We formulate the (IPASRA) as a linear model, furthermore a novel hybrid algorithm based on Tabu Search (TS) and Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP) is offered to tackle this complex problem. Simulation tests are also presented to prove the efficiency of our modelling and resolution approaches.

Setup costs are a crucial factor in many branches of industry and frequently sequence dependent. However, the empirical acquisition of setup costs is inaccurate and not practicable for companies with large product portfolios operating in volatile markets. We therefore propose an abstract model for the estimation of such sequence dependent setup costs and subsequently apply dispatching and scheduling strategies to generate optimized production sequences. Both approaches are tested on randomly generated test instances and a real-world production scenario.

GRASP for traffic grooming and routing with simple path constraints in WDM mesh networks

The determination of lot sizes and production schedules of multiple products in multiple periods is difficult when sequence-dependent set-up costs are present. By using an initial set-up cost estimator (ISCE) the joint problem can be divided and solved sequentially. A search of the literature reveals that, while there is considerable research on the individual problems of lot sizing and scheduling, there is a dearth of study on either the joint problem or on the effect of ISCE selection on the total cost solution. Using a variety of data sets, this paper evaluates the sensitivity of ISCE selection on the solution to the joint problem. Results of the study demonstrate that the choice of an ISCE can have a significant effect on the final lot sizes and schedules. Additionally, the research shows that ‘common sense’ a priori assumptions about ISCE performance may lead to the selection of an inappropriate ISCE.

This paper presents a new hybrid algorithm, which is based on the concepts of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP), for optimally clustering N objects into K clusters. The proposed algorithm is a two phase algorithm which combines a Multi-Swarm Constriction Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm for the solution of the feature selection problem and a GRASP algorithm for the solution of the clustering problem. In this paper in PSO, multiple swarms are used in order to give to the algorithm more exploration and exploitation abilities as the different swarms have the possibility to explore different parts of the solution space and, also, a constriction factor is used for controlling the behaviour of particles in each swarm. The performance of the algorithm is compared with other popular metaheuristic methods like classic genetic algorithms, tabu search, GRASP, ant colony optimization and particle swarm optimization. In order to assess the efficacy of the proposed algorithm, this methodology is evaluated on datasets from the UCI Machine Learning Repository. The high performance of the proposed algorithm is achieved as the algorithm gives very good results and in some instances the percentage of the corrected clustered samples is very high and is larger than 98%.KeywordsParticle Swarm OptimizationGreedy Randomized Adaptive Search ProcedureClustering Analysis

A greedy randomized adaptive search procedure (GRASP) is an iterative multistart metaheuristic for difficult combinatorial optimization. Each GRASP iteration consists of two phases: a construction phase, in which a feasible solution is produced, and a local search phase, in which a local optimum in the neighborhood of the constructed solution is sought. Since 1989, GRASP has been applied to a wide range of combinatorial optimization problems, ranging from scheduling and routing to drawing.In this article, we cover the literature where GRASP is applied to scheduling, routing, logic, partitioning, location, graph theory, assignment, manufacturing, transportation, telecommunications, biology and related fields, automatic drawing, power systems, and VLSI design.

Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedures (GRASP) are among the most popular metaheuristics for the solution of combinatorial optimization problems. While GRASP is a relatively simple and efficient framework to deal with deterministic problem settings, many real-life applications experience a high level of uncertainty concerning their input variables or even their optimization constraints. When properly combined with the right metaheuristic, simulation (in any of its variants) can be an effective way to cope with this uncertainty. In this paper, we present a simheuristic algorithm that integrates Monte Carlo simulation into a GRASP framework to solve the permutation flow shop problem (PFSP) with random processing times. The PFSP is a well-known problem in the supply chain management literature, but most of the existing work considers that processing times of tasks in machines are deterministic and known in advance, which in some real-life applications (e.g., project management) is an unrealistic assumption.

The weighted maximal planar graph (WMPG) is practically important in the laying out of facilities in modern manufacturing environments. Given a weighted complete graph, the WMPG seeks to find a sub-graph such that it is planar—it can be embedded on the plane without any arcs intersecting, and it is maximal—no additional arc can be added to the sub-graph without destroying its planarity, and it also has the maximal sum of arc weights. In this paper, an integer linear programming (ILP) model is newly introduced for the problem. Two meta-heuristics are then derived from the ILP relaxation. The first meta-heuristic considers all variables with fractional values greater than half in the ILP relaxation to build an initial sub-graph from which a planar sub-graph is extracted using greedy random adaptive search procedure (GRASP) and augmented by triangulation of faces. The second meta-heuristic considers only arcs with integer values in the ILP relaxation. The remaining arcs are then sorted in descending order of their weights, for selection and insertion with a planarity testing procedure, to obtain a feasible solution using GRASP. Computational results are reported on a set of 100 test instances of size varying from 20 to 100 facilities. The computational results demonstrate the tightness of the new upper bound when compared to the classical one as well as the good performance of the proposed metaheuristics when compared to the best-known procedures in the literature in terms of solution quality and computational requirement. Finally, the paper presents a successful integration of GRASP with classical optimisation approaches and should be attempted for other optimisation problems.

Greedy Randomised Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP) is one of the best-known metaheuristics to solve complex combinatorial optimisation problems (COPs). This paper proposes two extensions of the typical GRASP framework. On the one hand, applying biased randomisation techniques during the solution construction phase enhances the efficiency of the GRASP solving approach compared to the traditional use of a restricted candidate list. On the other hand, the inclusion of simulation at certain points of the GRASP framework constitutes an efficient simulation–optimisation approach that allows to solve stochastic versions of COPs. To show the effectiveness of these GRASP improvements and extensions, tests are run with both deterministic and stochastic problem settings related to flow shop scheduling, vehicle routing, and facility location.

This paper considers a production–distribution problem that consists of defining the flow of produced products from manufacturing plants to clients (markets) via a set of warehouses. The problem also consists of defining the location of such warehouses that have unlimited storage capacity. This problem is known in the literature as the three-echelon uncapacitated facility location problem (TUFLP), and is known to be NP-hard when the objective function is to minimize the total cost of warehouse location and production and distribution of products. This paper proposes a Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP) to solve the multi-item version of the TUFLP. Computational experiments are conducted using known instances from the literature. Solutions obtained using GRASP are compared against both optimal solutions and lower bounds obtained using mathematical programming. Results show that proposed algorithm performs well, obtaining good solutions (and even the optimal values) in less computational time than the mixed-integer linear programming model.

This study investigates the capacitated planar multi-facility location-allocation problem by considering various capacity constraints. The problem is also known as the capacitated multi-source Weber problem, where the number of facilities to be located is specified and each of which has a capacity constraint. An efficient greedy randomised adaptive search procedure (GRASP) is proposed to deal with the problem. A scheme that applies the furthest distance rule (FDR) and self-adjusted threshold parameters to generate initial facility locations that are situated sparsely within GRASP framework is also presented. The construction of the restricted candidate list (RCL) within GRASP is also guided by applying a concept of restricted regions that prevents new facility locations to be sited too close to the previous selected facility locations. The performance of the proposed GRASP heuristics is tested using benchmark data sets from literature. The computational experiments show that the proposed methods provide encouraging solutions when compared to recently published papers. Some future research avenues on the subject are also briefly highlighted.

Given a matrix of weights, the linear order problem (LOP) consists of finding a permutation of the columns and rows in order to maximize the sum of the weights in the upper triangle. This paper introduces a modified discrete particle swarm optimization (PSO) which deals with LOP. It doesn't use exchange, crossover, mutation, insertion and deletion operators. But the positions of elements in solution permutation are stored in the particle instead of elements themselves. We only change our observation point of view and conceive the velocity as the shift in the position of elements. So the particle position is updated in much the same way as the canonical continuous PSO. Then the updated solution permutation was obtained by sorting the values of the updated position of elements. The proposed discrete PSO is also integrated with a greedy randomized adaptive search procedure (GRASP) and a local search scheme. Experiments on the linear order problem show that the proposed procedure provides extremely high quality solutions within a low number of evaluations. Ultimately, the proposed algorithm was able to improve 67 out of 75 best known solutions for instances of Random type I whereas for instances of Random type II, 26 out of the 75 best known solutions were improved.