Hybrid Discrete Differential Evolution Algorithm for Lot Splitting with Capacity Constraints in Flexible Job Scheduling

Abstract

A two-level batch chromosome coding scheme is proposed to solve the lot splitting problem with equipment capacity constraints in flexible job shop scheduling, which includes a lot splitting chromosome and a lot scheduling chromosome. To balance global search and local exploration of the differential evolution algorithm, a hybrid discrete differential evolution algorithm (HDDE) is presented, in which the local strategy with dynamic random searching based on the critical path and a random mutation operator is developed. The performance of HDDE was experimented with 14 benchmark problems and the practical dye vat scheduling problem. The simulation results showed that the proposed algorithm has the strong global search capability and can effectively solve the practical lot splitting problems with equipment capacity constraints.