New approaches for scheduling of multitasking multipurpose batch processes in scientific service facilities

Abstract

Abstract Scheduling of multitasking multipurpose batch industry has not gained adequate attention in the literature. In this work, two novel mathematical models for scheduling of multitasking multipurpose batch processes in scientific service facilities are developed. The first model is developed based on unit-specific event-based approach, while the second is based on task-specific event-based approach. By solving a number of examples with both proposed models and the existing ones in the literature, it seems that both proposed models reduce the model size. The proposed unit-specific event-based model is superior to others, significantly reducing the model size and requiring at least one order of magnitude less computational time to generate the optimum solution, especially for the case of makespan minimization.