Job-shop scheduling with limited buffer capacities - Models, solution representations, heuristics

Recent developments in manufacturing processes have increased the role of just-in-time production systems. Just-in-time production leads to highly coordinated manufacturing processes, continuous flow of products between work stations, and reduced storage capacities in the shop floor. In this book, Silvia Heitmann investigates job-shop problems where limited capacity buffers to store jobs in non-processing periods are present. Besides a general buffer model, also specific configurations are considered. The key issue to develop fast heuristics for the job-shop problem with buffers is to find a compact representation of solutions. In this work, two solution representations for the job-shop problem with buffers are proposed and it is investigated whether the given solution representations can be simplified for specific buffer configurations. Based on the given solution representations, local search heuristics are developped in the second part of the book. The book addresses to scientists in mathematics, informatics, and economics as well as staff coordinating production processes.