Solving scheduling problems with integrated online sustainability observation using heuristic optimization

Abstract

The paper deals with the issue of production scheduling for various types of employees in a large manufacturing company where the decision-making process was based on a human factor and the foreman’s know-how, which was error-prone. Modern production processes are getting more and more complex. A company that wants to be competitive on the market must consider many factors. Relying only on human factors is not efficient at all. The presented work has the objective of developing a new employee scheduling system that might be considered a particular case of the job shop problem from the set of the employee scheduling problems. The Neuro-Tabu Search algorithm and the data gathered by manufacturing sensors and process controls are used to remotely inspect machine condition and sustainability as well as for preventive maintenance. They were used to build production schedules. The construction of the Neuro-Tabu Search algorithm combines the Tabu Search algorithm, one of the most effective methods of constructing heuristic algorithms for scheduling problems, and a self-organizing neural network that further improves the prohibition mechanism of the Tabu Search algorithm. Additionally, in the paper, sustainability with the use of Industry 4.0 is considered. That would make it possible to minimize the costs of employees’ work and the cost of the overall production process. Solving the optimization problem offered by Neuro-Tabu Search algorithm and real-time data shows a new way of production management.