Minimizing makespan and total completion time for parallel batch processing machines with non-identical job sizes

This paper considers the scheduling problem of parallel batch processing machines with non-identical job sizes. The jobs are processed in batches and the machines have the same capacity. The models of minimizing makespan and total completion time are given using mixed integer programming method and the computational complexity is analyzed. The bound on the number of feasible solutions is given and the properties of the optimal solutions are presented. Then a polynomial time algorithm is proposed and the worst case ratios for minimizing total completion time and makespan is proved to be 2 and (8/3–2/3 m) respectively. To test the proposed algorithm, we generate different levels of random instances. The computational results demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm for minimizing the two objectives.