An efficient hybrid evolutionary algorithm for scheduling with setup times and weighted tardiness minimization

Abstract

We confront the job shop scheduling problem with sequence dependent setup times and weighted tardiness minimization. To solve this problem, we propose a hybrid metaheuristic that combines the intensification capability of tabu search with the diversification capability of a genetic algorithm which plays the role of long term memory for tabu search in the combined approach. We define and analyze a new neighborhood structure for this problem which is embedded in the tabu search algorithm. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm relies on some elements such as neighbors filtering and a proper balance between intensification and diversification of the search. We report results from an experimental study across conventional benchmarks, where we analyze our approach and demonstrate that it compares favorably to the state-of-the-art methods