We discuss a scheduling problem for a twomachine robotic flow-shop with a bounded intermediate station and robots which is realistic in FMCs (flexible manufacturing cells). The problem asks to minimize the total weighted completion time. It is NP-hard. In this paper, we propose a heuristic algorithm based on GA (Genetic Algorithm) which is applicable to the problem, and which allows not only permutation, but also non-permutation schedules, because the latter has possibility to improve the former for this objective function. It is shown by numerical experiment that the proposed method is more effective than existing heuristics, and that there are some situations where the non-permutation scheduling is better than the permutation one.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.