A note on two-agent scheduling on an unbounded parallel-batching machine with makespan and maximum lateness objectives

This paper studies the two-agent scheduling on an unbounded parallel-batching machine. In the problem, there are two agents A and B with each having their own job sets. The jobs of a common agent can be processed in a common batch. Moreover, each agent has an objective function to be minimized. The objective function of agent A is the makespan of his jobs and the objective function of agent B is maximum lateness of his jobs. Yazdani Sabouni and Jolai [M.T. Yazdani Sabouni, F. Jolai, Optimal methods for batch processing problem with makespan and maximum lateness objectives, Appl. Math. Model. 34 (2010) 314–324] presented a polynomial-time algorithm for the problem to minimize a positive combination of the two agents’ objective functions. Unfortunately, their algorithm is incorrect. We then dwell on the problem and present a polynomial-time algorithm for finding all Pareto optimal solutions of this two-agent parallel-batching scheduling problem.     

有关单机两代理排序问题的两个结果

研究了两个单机两代理排序问题. 在第一个两代理排序问题中, 代理A的目标函数为极小化所有工件的加权完工时间总和, 代理B的目标函数为极小化最大工件费用. 在第二个两代理排序问题中, 代理A的目标函数为极小化所有工件的加权完工时间总和, 代理B的目标函数为极小化所有工件的最大完工时间. 证明了第一个问题是强NP-难的, 改进了已有的一般意义NP-难的结果; 对第二个问题给出了一个与现有的动态规划算法不同的动态规划算法.     

Polynomial time solutions for scheduling problems on a proportionate flowshop with two competing agents

In scheduling problems with two competing agents, each one of the agents has his own set of jobs and his own objective function, but both share the same processor. The goal is to minimize the value of the objective function of one agent, subject to an upper bound on the value of the objective function of the second agent. In this paper we study two-agent scheduling problems on a proportionate flowshop. Three objective functions of the first agent are considered: minimum maximum cost of all the jobs, minimum total completion time, and minimum number of tardy jobs. For the second agent, an upper bound on the maximum allowable cost is assumed. We introduce efficient polynomial time solution algorithms for all cases.     

一个具有退化的两个代理的排序问题

考虑两个代理的带有退化的单机排序问题.第一个代理J以完工时间和为目标函数,第二个代理J以最大延迟为目标函数,并且两个代理的加工时间是按时间退化的,所谓按时间退化就是每个工件的加工时间是其开始加工时间的函数.问题的目标是寻找一种排序,使得两个代理的目标函数之和达到最小.证明该问题可在O(n_1n_2(n_1+n_2))时间内求解.     

Complexities of four problems on two-agent scheduling

In the two-agent scheduling with the global objective function to be minimized being the number of tardy jobs and the specified agent’s objective function to be minimized being makespan or maximum lateness, the computational complexities of four problems were posed as open in the literature. We show in this paper that the four problems are binary NP-hard and two of them are solvable in pseudo-polynomial time.     

同时最小化最大费用和最大完工时间的双代理无界平行分批排序

有两个代理A和B, 每个代理都各自有一个工件集. 同一个代理的工件可以在同一批中加工, 而且每一个代理都有一个需要最小化的函数. 研究在无界平行分批处理机上同时最小化代理A的最大费用和代理B的最大完工时间问题, 并给出一个算法, 它可在多项式时间内找到关于这个问题的所有Pareto最优点.     

Scheduling two agents with controllable processing times

We consider several two-agent scheduling problems with controllable job processing times, where agents A and B have to share either a single machine or two identical machines in parallel while processing their jobs. The processing times of the jobs of agent A are compressible at additional cost. The objective function for agent B is always the same, namely a regular function _fmax$f_{\text{max}}$. Several different objective functions are considered for agent A, including the total completion time plus compression cost, the maximum tardiness plus compression cost, the maximum lateness plus compression cost and the total compression cost subject to deadline constraints (the imprecise computation model). All problems are to minimize the objective function of agent A subject to a given upper bound on the objective function of agent B. These problems have various applications in computer systems as well as in operations management. We provide NP-hardness proofs for the more general problems and polynomial-time algorithms for several special cases of the problems.     

关于总误工损失的两个代理单机排序问题

研究了与总误工损失相关的两个代理的单机排序问题。第一个代理以工件的总误工损失为目标函数,第二个代理以工件的总完工时间或总误工工件数为目标函数。目标是寻找一个排序,使得在第二个代理的目标函数不超过给定的上界的条件下,第一个代理的目标函数值最小。对这两个与总误工损失相关的两个代理的单机排序问题,分别给出它们的拟多项式时间的动态规划算法。     

Two-agent scheduling with position-based deteriorating jobs and learning effects

Scheduling with deteriorating jobs and learning effects has been widely studied. However, multi-agent scheduling with simultaneous considerations of deteriorating jobs and learning effects has hardly been considered until now. In view of this, we consider a two-agent single-machine scheduling problem involving deteriorating jobs and learning effects simultaneously. In the proposed model, given a schedule, we assume that the actual processing time of a job of the first agent is a function of position-based learning while the actual processing time of a job of the second agent is a function of position-based deterioration. The objective is to minimize the total weighted completion time of the jobs of the first agent with the restriction that no tardy job is allowed for the second agent. We develop a branch-and-bound and several simulated annealing algorithms to solve the problem. Computational results show that the proposed algorithms are efficient in producing near-optimal solutions.     

Coordination mechanisms for parallel machine scheduling

We consider coordination mechanisms for the distributed scheduling of n jobs on m parallel machines, where each agent holding a job selects a machine to process his/her own job. Without a central authority to construct a schedule, each agent acts selfishly to minimize his/her own disutility, which is either the completion time of the job or the congestion time (defined as the load of the machine on which the job is scheduled). However, the overall system performance is measured by a central objective which is quite different from the agents’ objective. In the literature, makespan is often considered as the central objective. We, however, investigate problems with other central objectives that minimize the total congestion time, the total completion time, the maximum tardiness, the total tardiness, and the number of tardy jobs. The performance deterioration of the central objective by a lack of central coordination, referred to as the price of anarchy, is typically measured by the maximum ratio of the objective function value of a Nash equilibrium schedule versus that of an optimal, coordinated schedule. In this paper we give bounds for the price of anarchy for the above objectives. For problems with due date related objectives, the price of anarchy may not be defined since the optimal value may be zero. In this case, we consider the maximum difference between the objective function value of an equilibrium schedule and the optimal value. We refer to this metric as the absolute price of anarchy and analyze its lower and upper bounds.     

NP-hard cases in scheduling deteriorating jobs on dedicated machines

In this paper problems of time-dependent scheduling on dedicated machines are considered. The processing time of each job is described by a function which is dependent on the starting time of the job. The objective is to minimise the maximum completion time (makespan). We prove that under linear deterioration the two-machine flow shop problem is strongly NP-hard and the two-machine open shop problem is ordinarily NP-hard. We show that for the three-machine flow shop and simple linear deterioration there does not exist a polynomial-time approximation algorithm with the worst case ratio bounded by a constant, unless P=NP. We also prove that the three-machine open shop problem with simple linear deterioration is ordinarily NP-hard, even if the jobs have got equal deterioration rates on the third machine.     

Λ-Shaped Policies to Schedule Deteriorating Jobs

We study a problem of scheduling deteriorating jobs, i.e. jobs whose processing times are an increasing function of their starting times. We consider the case of a single machine and linear job-independent deterioration. The objective is to minimize the sum of weighted completion times, with weights proportional to the basic processing times. The optimal schedule is shown to be Λ-shaped, i.e. the sequence of the basic processing times has a single local maximum. Moreover, we show that the problem is solved in O(N log N) time. In the last section we test heuristics for the case of general weights.     

带有退化效应和序列相关运输时间的排序问题

考虑带有退化效应和序列相关运输时间的单机排序问题. 工件的加工时间是其开工时间的简单线性增加函数. 当机器单个加工工件时, 极小化最大完工时间、(加权)总完工时间和总延迟问题被证明是多项式可解的, EDD序对于极小化最大延迟问题不是最优排序, 另外, 就交货期和退化率一致情形给出了一最优算法. 当机器可分批加工工件时, 分别就极小化最大完工时间和加权总完工时间问题提出了多项式时间最优算法.     

Two-agent single machine scheduling with forbidden intervals

We consider the resumable version of the two-agent single machine scheduling problems with forbidden intervals in which the jobs cannot be processed. The goal is to minimize the sum of the objective functions of the two agents. Polynomial and pseudo-polynomial time algorithms are presented for various combinations of regular scheduling objective functions.     

Unrelated parallel-machine scheduling with deterioration effects and deteriorating multi-maintenance activities for minimizing the total completion time

This paper investigates scheduling problems with simultaneous considerations of deterioration effects and deteriorating multi-maintenance activities on unrelated parallel machines. We examine two models of scheduling with the deterioration effect, namely the job-dependent and position-dependent deterioration model and the time-dependent deterioration model. We assume that each machine may be subject to several maintenance activities over the scheduling horizon, and the duration of maintenance on a machine depends on its running time. Moreover, due to the restriction of the budget of maintenance, the upper bound of the total maintenance frequencies on all the machines is assumed to be known in advance. The objective is to find jointly the optimal maintenance frequencies, the optimal maintenance positions, and the optimal job sequences such that the total completion time is minimized. If the number of machines is fixed, we introduce polynomial time solutions for all the versions of the problem under study.     

Single-machine scheduling to minimize total absolute differences in waiting times with deteriorating jobs

In this paper we consider a single-machine scheduling problem with simple linear deterioration. By simple linear deterioration, we mean that the processing time of a job is a simple linear function of its execution starting time and its deterioration rate. The objective is to find a schedule that minimizes total absolute differences in waiting times. We show that the optimal schedule is V-shaped: jobs are arranged in descending order of their deterioration rates if they are placed before the job with the smallest deterioration rate, but in ascending order of their deterioration rates if placed after it. We prove other several properties of an optimal schedule, and introduce two efficient heuristic algorithms that are tested against a lower bound. We also provide computational results to evaluate the performance of the heuristic algorithms.     

Flow shop scheduling problems with deteriorating jobs under dominating machines

This paper considers the general, no-wait and no-idle flow shop scheduling problems with deteriorating jobs. By a deteriorating job we mean that the processing time is an increasing function of its execution starting time. A linear deterioration function is assumed and some dominating relationships between machines can be satisfied. It is shown that for the problems to minimize the makespan or the weighted sum of completion time, polynomial algorithms still exist, although these problems are more complicated than the classical ones. When the objective is to minimize the maximum lateness, the solutions of a classical version may not hold.     

Parallel machines scheduling to minimize job tardiness and machine deteriorating cost with deteriorating jobs

This paper studies the parallel machines bi-criteria scheduling problem (PMBSP) in a deteriorating system. Sequencing and scheduling problems (SSP) have seldom considered the two phenomena concurrently. This paper discusses the parallel machines scheduling problem with the effects of machine and job deterioration. By the machine deterioration effect, we mean that each machine deteriorates at a different rate. This deterioration is considered in terms of cost which depends on the production rate, the machine’s operating characteristics and the kind of work done by each machine. Moreover, job processing times are increasing functions of their starting times and follow a simple linear deterioration. The objective functions are minimizing total tardiness and machine deteriorating cost. The problem of total tardiness on identical parallel machines is NP-hard, thus the problem with machine deteriorating cost as an additional term is also NP-hard. We propose the LP-metric method to show the importance of our proposed multi-objective problem. A metaheuristic algorithm is developed to locate optimal or near optimal solutions based on a Tabu search mechanism. Numerical examples are presented to show the efficiency of this model.     

具有退化工件和工期窗口安排的排序问题

针对具有退化工件的排序模型,考虑了单机排序和两台机器流水作业的工期窗口安排问题,在这一模型中,工件的加工时间是与其开工时间和退化率有关的一个线性函数。目标是找到一个最优排序和确定工期窗口的开始时间及大小以便最小化所有工件的费用函数,费用函数由四部分组成:提前、延误、工期窗口开始时间和工期窗口大小。对所研究的单机问题,详细地讨论了符合现实情况的几种类型问题,并得到了问题的最优解;对两台机器流水作业问题,给出了多项式算法。     

Single-machine scheduling with linear decreasing deterioration to minimize earliness penalties

We consider a single-machine scheduling problem with linear decreasing deterioration in which the due dates are determined by the equal slack (SLK) method. By the linear decreasing deterioration, we mean that the job’s processing time is a decreasing function of its starting time. The objective is to minimize the total weighted earliness penalty subject to no tardy jobs. We prove that two special cases of the problem remain polynomially solvable. The first case is the problem with equally weighted monotonous penalty objective function and the other case is the problem with weighted linear penalty objective function.