A new hybrid genetic algorithm for the bi-criteria no-wait flowshop scheduling problem with makespan and total flow time minimization

Abstract

Multi-objective flowshop scheduling problems have gained wide attention both in practical and academic fields. In this paper, a hybrid multi-objective genetic algorithm is proposed to solve multi-objective no-wait flowshop scheduling problems with both the makespan and the total flow time minimization. The proposed algorithm makes use of the principle of non-dominated sorting, coupled with the use of elitist solutions strategy. To improve efficiency, two effective multi-objective local search procedures based on objective increment are applied on each chromosome in the archive. Experimental results show that the proposal outperforms the other three heuristics both on effectiveness and efficiency.