Multi-Crane Scheduling for Steelmaking-Continuous Casting Processes

This work considers a multi-crane scheduling problem arising from steelmaking-continuous casting processes. By analyzing the optimization objectives and constraints in industrial scenarios, a multi-objective mathematical model is established. A conflict resolution strategy is designed to avoid conflict of multiple cranes. A metaheuristic algorithm based on the framework of Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II) is developed to solve the concerned problem and provide practitioners with Pareto near-optimal solutions. The actual production data are collected as a dataset to test the proposed algorithm. The experimental results show that the concerned problem can be well solved by the proposed algorithm whose performance is much better than that of a greedy-based heuristic algorithm.