Genetic Algorithm for One Machining Line Balancing Problem with Setup Times

Abstract

This paper deals with one industrial optimization problem of a machining line design. The particular features of this problem are the sequence dependent setup times, the complex set of inclusion, exclusion, and accessibility constrains, and the possibility to install parallel machines. This makes the problem especially difficult to solve but interesting for the theoretical and applied research. A simple but effective genetic algorithm is proposed for solving this problem. Its main underlying ideas are the fine tuned penalty function and a greedy repair operator. The computational experiments demonstrate a clear advantage of the proposed algorithm over the ones previously known from the literature.