A new technology implementation via mathematical modeling for the sequence-dependent setup times of industrial problems

Scheduling problems with sequence-dependent setup times in industries currently attract the attention of re-searchers and practitioners. This study aims to develop a mathematical model for optimizing a single-machine environment with such times using an analogy with the traveling salesman problem. Employing a technolog-ical and modern modeling language for its computational implementations, firstly, five main formulations of this problem in the literature are evaluated and the best one for addressing the proposed problem is identified. Secondly, an arc-flow completion time and precedence model for a single-machine scheduling problem is assessed. Finally, the proposed model is improved by passing the initial solutions obtained by two heuristics to it. As a result, the mathematical model developed returns lower computational times than state-of-the-art ones (even without improvements to the initial solution) which indicates the success of using an analogy between formulations of the traveling salesman problem and the proposed model.