An Improved Elephant Herding Optimization for Energy-Saving Assembly Job Shop Scheduling Problem with Transportation Times

Abstract

The energy-saving scheduling problem (ESSP) has gained increasing attention of researchers in the manufacturing field. However, there is a lack of studies on ESSPs in the assembly job shop environment. In contrast with traditional scheduling problems, the assembly job shop scheduling problem (AJSP) adds the additional consideration of hierarchical precedence constraints between different jobs of each final product. This paper focuses on developing a methodology for an energy-saving assembly job shop scheduling problem with job transportation times. Firstly, a mathematical model is constructed with the objective of minimizing total energy consumption. Secondly, an improved elephant herding optimization (IEHO) is proposed by considering the problem’s characteristics. Finally, thirty-two different instances are designed to verify the performance of the proposed algorithm. Computational results and statistical data demonstrate that the IEHO has advantages over other algorithms in terms of the solving accuracy for the considered problem.