Title: Production scheduling for hot rolling processes with time windows in the steel industry

Authors: Mahdi Nakhaeinejad; Nasim Nahavandi

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering, Science and Art University, Yazd, Iran ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract: This paper investigates the hot rolling production scheduling problem in the steel industry. The aim of hot rolling process scheduling (HRPS) is to construct a rolling sequence which optimises a set of given criteria under constraints. This paper presents the model and solution method for hot rolling production scheduling with time windows. Three heuristic algorithms based on an elementary shortest path problem with resource constraints (ESPPRC) are developed. The methods combine exact method and heuristics to obtain near-optimal solutions for this problem. The methods are divided into two phases: in the first phase, non-dominated feasible turns are generated; in the second phase, some turns are selected and sequenced to form the scheduling. The experimental results show that the proposed mathematical model and the heuristic algorithms can be applied in practice to provide production efficiency and economic benefits for the hot rolling scheduling problem.

Keywords: hot rolling; production scheduling; steel industry; time windows; elementary shortest paths; resource constraints.

DOI: 10.1504/IJASM.2014.061467

International Journal of Agile Systems and Management, 2014 Vol.7 No.2, pp.179 - 197

Received: 25 Apr 2013
Accepted: 06 Mar 2014
Published online: 30 Jun 2014 *

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