SCHEDULING IN SERIAL MULTIPRODUCT BATCH PROCESSES WITH DUE-DATE PENALTIES

Customer satisfaction is one of the most important considerations in the production scheduling of many batch processes but has received very little attention in research. In this paper, we consider the multiunit serial multiproduct process with a single-batch unit in each stage and unlimited intermediate storage. The problem consists of sequencing the production of a list of batches or single-product campaigns so as to minimize the total penalty due to any late deliveries. We present a branch and bound algorithm for this problem using two procedures for computing a lower bound on the penalty of a partial sequence. These procedures reduce the M-unit system to several 1-unit systems by assuming individual units to be bottleneck and by employing the available 1-unit algorithms. Our computational experience suggests that the algorithm is quite good for modest-size problems involving as many as 15 batches or campaigns. © 1990, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.