Approximation algorithms for scheduling problems with a modified total weighted tardiness objective

We study the approximability of minimum total weighted tardiness with a modified objective which includes an additive constant. This ensures the existence of a positive lower bound for the minimum value. Moreover the new objective has a natural interpretation in just-in-time production systems.     

Approximation algorithms for problems in scheduling with set-ups

In this paper, we present new approximation results for the offline problem of single machine scheduling with sequence-independent set-ups and item availability, where the jobs to be scheduled are independent (i.e., have no precedence constraints) and have a common release time.We present polynomial-time approximation algorithms for two versions of this problem. In the first version, the input includes a weight for each job, and the goal is to minimize the total weighted completion time. On any input, our algorithm produces a schedule whose total weighted completion time is within a factor 2 of optimal for that input.In the second version, the input includes a due date for each job, and the goal is to minimize the maximum lateness of any job. On any input, our algorithm produces a schedule with the following performance guarantee: the maximum lateness of a job is at most the maximum lateness of the optimal schedule on a machine that runs at half the speed of our machine.     

Equivalence of two linear programming relaxations for broadcast scheduling

A server needs to compute a broadcast schedule for n pages whose request times are known in advance. Outputting a page satisfies all outstanding requests for the page. The goal is to minimize the average waiting time of a client. In this paper, we show the equivalence of two apparently different relaxations that have been considered for this problem.     

Parallel machine scheduling with nested job assignment restrictions

We derive a polynomial time approximation scheme for a special case of makespan minimization on unrelated machines.     

On the machine scheduling problem with job delivery coordination

This paper examines two scheduling problems with job delivery coordination, in which each job demands different amount of storage space during transportation. For the first problem, in which jobs are processed on a single machine and delivered by one vehicle to a customer, we present a best possible approximation algorithm with a worst-case ratio arbitrarily close to 3/2. For the second problem, which differs from the first problem in that jobs are processed by two parallel machines, we give an improved algorithm with a worst-case ratio 5/3.     

Partially ordered knapsack and applications to scheduling

In the partially ordered knapsack problem (POK) we are given a set N of items and a partial order ?_P on N. Each item has a size and an associated weight. The objective is to pack a set N^′⊆N of maximum weight in a knapsack of bounded size. N^′ should be precedence-closed, i.e., be a valid prefix of ?_P. POK is a natural generalization, for which very little is known, of the classical Knapsack problem. In this paper we present both positive and negative results. We give an FPTAS for the important case of a two-dimensional partial order, a class of partial orders which is a substantial generalization of the series-parallel class, and we identify the first non-trivial special case for which a polynomial-time algorithm exists. Our results have implications for approximation algorithms for scheduling precedence-constrained jobs on a single machine to minimize the sum of weighted completion times, a problem closely related to POK.     

Tighter approximation bounds for LPT scheduling in two special cases

$Q||C_{\max }$ denotes the problem of scheduling n jobs on m machines of different speeds such that the makespan is minimized. In the paper two special cases of $Q||C_{\max }$ are considered: case I, when $m?1$ machine speeds are equal, and there is only one faster machine; and case II, when machine speeds are all powers of 2 (2-divisible machines). Case I has been widely studied in the literature, while case II is significant in an approach to design so called monotone algorithms for the scheduling problem.We deal with the worst case approximation ratio of the classic list scheduling algorithm ‘Largest Processing Time (LPT)’. We provide an analysis of this ratio $\mathit{Lpt}/\mathit{Opt}$ for both special cases: For ‘one fast machine’, a tight bound of $(\sqrt{3}+1)/2\approx 1.3660$ is given. For 2-divisible machines, we show that in the worst case $1.3673<\mathit{Lpt}/\mathit{Opt}<1.4$. Besides, we prove another lower bound of $955/699>(\sqrt{3}+1)/2$ when LPT breaks ties arbitrarily.To our knowledge, the best previous lower and upper bounds were $(4/3,3/2?1/2m]$ in case I [T. Gonzalez, O.H. Ibarra, S. Sahni, Bounds for LPT schedules on uniform processors, SIAM Journal on Computing 6 (1) (1977) 155–166], respectively $[4/3?1/3m,3/2]$ in case II [R.L. Graham, Bounds on multiprocessing timing anomalies, SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics 17 (1969) 416–429; A. Kovács, Fast monotone 3-approximation algorithm for scheduling related machines, in: Proc. 13th Europ. Symp. on Algs. (ESA), in: LNCS, vol. 3669, Springer, 2005, pp. 616–627]. Moreover, Gonzalez et al. conjectured the lower bound 4/3 to be tight in the ‘one fast machine’ case [T. Gonzalez, O.H. Ibarra, S. Sahni, Bounds for LPT schedules on uniform processors, SIAM Journal on Computing 6 (1) (1977) 155–166].     

Approximation algorithms for UET scheduling problems with exact delays

In this paper we consider coupled-task single-machine and two-machine flow shop scheduling problems with exact delays, unit processing times, and the makespan as an objective function. The main results of the paper are fast 7/4- and 3/2-approximation algorithms for solving the single- and two-machine problems, respectively.     

Circular arrangements and cyclic broadcast scheduling

Motivated by a scheduling problem in multicast environments, we consider the problem of arranging a weighted graph around a circle so as to minimize the total weighted arc length. We describe the first polynomial-time approximation algorithms for this problem, and specifically an O(logn)-approximation algorithm for undirected circular arrangements and an -approximation algorithm for directed circular arrangements. We will also conduct an experimental evaluation of our algorithms and show that a simple heuristic has the best performance in simulations based on busy Web server logs.     

An FPTAS for scheduling with resource constraints

We study a basic scheduling problem with resource constraints: A number of jobs need to be scheduled on two parallel identical machines with the objective of minimizing the makespan, subject to the constraint that jobs may require a unit of one of the given renewable resources during their execution. For this NP-hard problem, we develop a fully polynomial-time approximation scheme (FPTAS). Our FPTAS makes a novel use of existing algorithms for the subset-sum problem and the open shop scheduling problem.     

Approximability of two-machine no-wait flowshop scheduling with availability constraints

We consider in this paper the two-machine no-wait flowshop scheduling problem in which each machine may have an unavailable interval. We present a polynomial time approximation scheme for the problem when the unavailable interval is imposed on only one machine, or the unavailable intervals on the two machines overlap.     

Routing open shop and flow shop scheduling problems

We consider a generalization of the classical open shop and flow shop scheduling problems where the jobs are located at the vertices of an undirected graph and the machines, initially located at the same vertex, have to travel along the graph to process the jobs. The objective is to minimize the makespan. In the tour-version the makespan means the time by which each machine has processed all jobs and returned to the initial location. While in the path-version the makespan represents the maximum completion time of the jobs. We present improved approximation algorithms for various cases of the open shop problem on a general graph, and the tour-version of the two-machine flow shop problem on a tree. Also, we prove that both versions of the latter problem are NP-hard, which answers an open question posed in the literature.     

Improved analysis of an algorithm for the coupled task problem with UET jobs

The coupled task problem is to schedule n jobs, each one consisting of two subtasks with exact delay times between them, on a single machine. We derive a new lower bound for the problem variant with unit execution times and correct a previously published analysis.     

Approximation algorithm for minimizing total latency in machine scheduling with deliveries

We study the problem of minimizing total latency in machine scheduling with deliveries, which is defined as follows. There is a set of n jobs to be processed by a single machine at a plant, where job J_i is associated with its processing time and a customer i located at location i to which the job is to be delivered. In addition, there is a single uncapacitated delivery vehicle available. All jobs (vehicle) are available for processing (delivery) at time 0. Our aim is to determine the sequence in which the jobs should be processed in the plant, the departure times of the vehicle from the plant, and the routing of the vehicle, so as to minimize the total latency (job delivery time). We present a 6e16.309691-approximation algorithm for the problem.     

High-multiplicity cyclic job shop scheduling

We consider the High-Multiplicity Cyclic Job Shop Scheduling Problem. There are two objectives of interest: the cycle time and the flow time. We give several approximation algorithms after showing that a very restricted case is APX-hard.     

Quality inspection scheduling for multi-unit service enterprises

The traveling salesman problem is a classic NP-hard problem used to model many production and scheduling problems. The problem becomes even more difficult when additional salesmen are added to create a multiple traveling salesman problem (MTSP). We consider a variation of this problem where one salesman visits a given set of cities in a series of short trips. This variation is faced by numerous franchise companies that use quality control inspectors to ensure properties are maintaining acceptable facility and service levels. We model an actual franchised hotel chain using traveling quality inspectors to demonstrate the technique. The model is solved using a commercially available genetic algorithm (GA) tool as well as a custom GA program. The custom GA is proven to be an effective method of solving the proposed model.     

A note on the two-stage assembly flow shop scheduling problem with uniform parallel machines

We study the problem of minimizing the makespan in a two-stage assembly flow shop scheduling problem with uniform parallel machines. This problem is a generalization of the assembly flow shop problem with concurrent operations in the first stage and a single assembly operation in the second stage. We propose a heuristic with an absolute performance bound which becomes asymptotically optimal as the number of jobs becomes very large. We show that our results slightly improve earlier results for the simpler assembly flow shop problem (without uniform machines) and for the two-stage hybrid flow shop problem with uniform machines.     

Inapproximability results for no-wait job shop scheduling

We investigate the approximability of the no-wait job shop scheduling problem under the makespan criterion. We show that this problem is -hard (i) for the case of two machines with at most five operations per job, and (ii) for the case of three machines with at most three operations per job. Hence, these problems do not possess a polynomial time approximation scheme, unless .     

Approximation algorithms for single machine scheduling with one unavailability period

In this paper, we investigate the single machine scheduling problem with release dates and tails and a planned unavailability time period. We show that the problem admits a fully polynomial-time approximation scheme when the tails are equal. We derive an approximation algorithm for the general case and we show that the worst-case bound of the sequence yielded by Schrage’s algorithm is equal to 2 and that this bound is tight. Some consequences of this result are also presented.