Development of the Contiguous-cells Transportation Problem

Abstract

The issue of scheduling a long string of multi-period activities which have to be completed without interruption has always been an industrial challenge. The existing production/maintenance scheduling algorithms can only handle situations where activities can be split into two or more sets of activities carried out in non-contiguous sets of work periods. This study proposes a contiguous-periods production/maintenance scheduling approach using the Transportation Model. Relevant variables and parameters of contiguous-cells scheduling problem were taken from the literature. A scheduling optimization problem was defined and solved using a contiguous-cells transportation algorithm (CCTA) which was applied in order to determine the optimal maintenance schedule of a fleet of ships at a dockyard in South-Western Nigeria. Fifteen different problems were solved. It is concluded that the contiguous-cells transportation approach to production/ maintenance scheduling is feasible. The model will be a useful decision support tool for scheduling maintenance operations.