Review and classification of constructive heuristics mechanisms for no-wait flow shop problem

Abstract

Permutation flow shop scheduling has been studied since the 1950s. Due to practical applications and because of its complex nature, several constrains have been studied, for example the no-wait flow shop problem. Classified as non-deterministic polynomial-time hard (NP-hard), several constructive heuristics have been proposed to reach the best trade-off between quality of the solution and computational time. This paper aims to present a review and classification of constructive heuristics proposed for no-wait flow shop problem with additional constraints (setup times, machine unavailability, release dates, and due dates) and several criterion objectives (makespan, total flow time, due date consideration, and multi-criterion objectives). As a result of the literature review, constructive heuristics were classified according to its composition (initial sequence generation, constructive phase, and improvement phase) and category (simple or composite). Several different mechanisms from the considered phases could be identified. These mechanisms can be combined to develop new constructive heuristics and can be applied for other scheduling problems. Besides, final considerations highlight directions for future possible researches, mainly the development of new strategies, for each phase considered.