Minimizing the worst-case makespan for a job-shop scheduling system with uncertain processing times

Abstract

This paper discusses a job-shop scheduling problem with uncertain processing times, which are described by discrete scenarios. A robust optimization model is established by minimizing the worst-case makespan for the job-shop scheduling system. Based on the characteristics of the established model, a neighborhood structure is constructed under the worst-case scenario, and a tabued simulated annealing hybrid algorithm with the constructed neighborhood is developed to solve the proposed problem. An extensive experiment was conducted to testify the effectiveness and the advantages of the developed algorithm by comparing with two possible alternative algorithms.