A genetic algorithm for family and job scheduling in a flowline-based manufacturing cell

The problem of family and job scheduling in a flowline-based manufacturing cell is considered with the criterion of minimizing makespan, followed by the criterion of minimizing total flowtime, and finally with the bi-criteria of minimizing makespan and total flowtime. We reckon the presence of missing operations in the manufacturing cell and present the correct problem formulation for time-tabling. We then propose the Genetic Algorithm (GA) for part-family scheduling and then for job scheduling within part-families. The proposed algorithm is compared with the existing algorithm and results are reported. © 1994.