Optimal scheduling of the single line multi-purpose batch process with re-circulation products

The semi-conductor integrated circuit electronic devices process has many re-circulation production paths through the stages of product manufacturing. These kinds of processes can be defined as the multipurpose batch process with re-circulation products if they produce more than two products. In this paper, we have developed the completion time algorithms for a single line multi-purpose batch process including re-circulation products with consideration of the non-zero set-up times and transfer times. We also developed the optimization method, genetic algorithm, for optimal scheduling of a multipurpose batch process including re-circulation products. Several randomly generated examples were tested using the proposed algorithm, and the Gantt chart results are presented. We used Genetic Algorithm for solving the scheduling problems, and optimal solutions are also presented.