SCHEDULING MULTI-PROCESSOR SYSTEMS WITH ALGEBRAIC OBJECTIVES

One of the well-studied models of combinatorial optimization is the scheduling problem dealing with a finite set of tasks, which have to be executed on a fixed number of machines so that a given objective is minimized. Each task requires a set of characteristic data like operating time, due date, penalty cost and technological requirements. An algebraic approach to the objective leads to a general problem which includes all classical cases of sum and bottleneck objectives known in literature. By solving an algebraic transportation problem a lower bound for the objective value can be determined. To obtain an optimal solution we employ a branch and bound procedure. Furthermore we consider the general job shop scheduling problem with algebraic objective function. © 1978 Springer-Verlag.