Integrated batch sizing and scheduling on a single machine

In this paper, we address the integrated batch sizing and scheduling problem. We consider a single machine which can handle at most one customer order at a time and for which the nominal production rate is the same for all the customer orders. Demand is deterministic, and all the orders are ready to be processed at time zero and must be delivered at a given due date. Each order can be satisfied from different batches. Upper and lower bounds on the size of the batches are considered. We seek a feasible schedule that minimizes the sum of the tardiness costs and the setup costs incurred by creating a new batch. We present some structural properties of the optimal schedules for both single-order and multiple-order problems and then propose dynamic programming algorithms based on these properties. Computational results that show the efficiency of the method are reported.