A heuristic method for discrete lot streaming with variable sublots in a flow shop

Lot streaming is the process of splitting a given lot or job to allow the overlapping of successive operations in multi-stage manufacturing systems, thereby reducing the makespan of the corresponding schedule. In this research, we propose a heuristic method for discrete lot streaming with variable sublots. This method consists of two procedures: (1) determining a continuous solution (sublots with real values) for variable lot streaming and (2) deriving a discrete solution by rounding up the continuous solution. One sample description is presented for demonstration purposes. The proposed method is then tested and evaluated via simulation. The results show that the proposed method outperforms other existing heuristic methods such as discrete lot streaming with consistent sublots, and simulated annealing (SA).