Tabu search methods for the flow shop sequencing problem

The Tabu search method is currently used in research to solve a range of scheduling problems. The method achieves superior results compared to the other heuristic methods for solving the same problem. In this paper, we compare the solution procedures of the flow shop sequencing problems that have been studied in the literature based on Tabu search. We investigate the algorithms using two heuristic rules to find the starting solution and two kinds of neighborhood structures. The computational results of the different combinations demonstrate some of the desirable characteristics of the Tabu search approach.