Minimizing makespan on a single batch processing machine with dynamic job arrivals

Abstract

We consider the problem of minimizing makespan Cmax on a single batch processing machine in the presence of dynamic job arrivals. The batch processing machine can process up to B jobs simultaneously. The processing time of a batch is given by the processing time of the longest job in the batch. We present polynomial and pseudopolynomial-time algorithms for several special cases, develop efficient heuristics for the general problem and evaluate their performance through extensive computational experiments. Our results indicate that several of the heuristics have an excellent average performance with a modest computational burden.