Solving a multi-periods job-shop scheduling problem using a generic decision support tool

Abstract

In this paper a generic and modular decision support tool developed to solve different planning, assignment or scheduling problems is presented. The utilization of this tool is illustrated by solving a real world multi-period job-shop scheduling problem proposed by a case study company which produces refrigerated foodservice equipment. The case study company problem and a list algorithm developed to integrate the proposed tool for this particular problem are presented. Preliminary results show that the proposed tool can be effectively used to solve the company problem. Besides the problem described in this paper, the proposed tool was used in the past to solve two other problems. Thus, it is demonstrated that the proposed tool can be easily adapted to several different planning or scheduling problems variants, overcoming the lack of flexibility generally associated to more problem-tailored methods proposed in the literature.