A genetic algorithm for minimizing the makespan in the case of scheduling identical parallel machines

Abstract

Identical parallel machine scheduling problem for minimizing the makespan is a very important production scheduling problem, but there have been many difficulties in the course of solving large scale identical parallel machine scheduling problem with too many jobs and machines. Genetic algorithms have shown great advantages in solving the combinatorial optimization problem in view of its characteristic that has high efficiency and that is fit for practical application. In this article, a kind of genetic algorithm based on machine code for minimizing the makespan in identical machine scheduling problem is presented. Several different scale numerical examples demonstrate the genetic algorithm proposed is efficient and fit for larger scale identical parallel machine scheduling problem for minimizing the makespan, the quality of its solution has advantage over heuristic procedure and simulated annealing method.