Title: Integrated scheduling of part, tool and automated guided vehicles in a flexible manufacturing system using modified genetic algorithm

Authors: Naveen Kumar; Pankaj Chandna; Dheeraj Joshi

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sir Padampat Singhania University, Udaipur, 313601, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, Haryana, 136119, India ' Department of Electrical Engineering, Delhi Technological University, Delhi, 110042, India

Abstract: Scheduling of part and tools without considering material handling devices may result into non-implementable results as the material handling system constraints affect the overall scheduling. In this paper, an attempt has been made for the simultaneous scheduling of part, tool and two automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in a flexible manufacturing system which has identical machines with no on-board tool magazine. All the tools are stored in a common tool magazine and are shared among different machines through a material handling system. Each tool type is single in number. The problem has two interrelated problems; one as loading and scheduling of part and tool and other as scheduling of AGVs. Two heuristics namely priority dispatching rules (PDRs) and modified genetic algorithm (MGA) with three parent crossover are used to find the optimal solution to the integrated scheduling problem. Both PDRs and MGA use an algorithm based on the concept of Giffler and Thompson procedure and a heuristic approach to generate the active feasible schedule. The performance of the two proposed algorithm is compared for the results of makespan. It was found that the MGA gives better results.

Keywords: integrated scheduling; flexible manufacturing system; modified genetic algorithm; MGA; automated guided vehicle; AGV; makespan.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISE.2019.101332

International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2019 Vol.32 No.4, pp.443 - 468

Received: 20 Mar 2017
Accepted: 06 Nov 2017
Published online: 02 Aug 2019 *

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