Tabu search heuristics for parallel machine scheduling with sequence-dependent setup and ready times

Abstract

We consider the problem of scheduling a set of independent jobs on parallel machines for the objective of minimizing total tardiness. Each job may have sequence-dependent setup and distinct ready times, i.e., the time at which the job is available for processing. Due to the complexity of the problem, tabu search heuristics are suggested that incorporate new methods to generate the neighborhood solutions. Three initial solution methods are also suggested. Computational experiments are done on a number of randomly generated test problems, and the results show that the tabu search heuristics suggested in this paper outperform the existing one.