On Scheduling a Deteriorating Rate-Modifying Activity to Minimize the Number of Tardy Jobs

Abstract

We investigate a single-machine scheduling problem, where a deteriorating rate-modifying activity can be performed on the machine to reduce the processing times of jobs. The objective is to minimize the number of tardy jobs. Under the assumption that the duration of the rate-modifying activity is a nonnegative and nondecreasing function on its starting time, we propose an optimal polynomial time algorithm running in $$O(n^3)$$ time.