A note on parallel-machine due-window assignment

We consider a due-window assignment problem on identical parallel machines, where the jobs have equal processing times and job-dependent earliness-tardiness costs. We would like to determine a `due window' during which the jobs can be completed at no cost and to obtain a job schedule in which the jobs are penalized if they finish before or after the due window. The objective is to minimize the total earliness and tardiness job penalty, plus the cost associated with the size of the due window. We present an algorithm that can solve this problem in O(n(3)) time, which is an improvement of the O(n(4)) solution procedure developed by Mosheiov and Sarig. Journal of the Operational Research Society (2012) 63, 821-825. doi:10.1057/jors.2011.75 Published online 24 August 2011