ABSTRACT
An integrated process planning and scheduling (IPPS) problem has been studied in this chapter. A large-scale flexible job shop is considered. The total weighted tardiness (TWT) performance measure is used. Alternative bills of materials (BOMs) and routes are possible for each product. A two-level hierarchical approach is proposed. Variable neighbourhood search (VNS) is used on the top level to choose BOMs and routes for each product. After the BOMs and routes are selected, an iterative local search approach is applied to solve the resulting job shop scheduling problem instance. The proposed IPPS scheme is assessed in a rolling horizon setting. Therefore, an appropriate simulation infrastructure has been described. The implementation of the IPPS prototype is briefly sketched. Results of simulation experiments are presented that clearly demonstrate that certain configurations of the IPPS solution approach are more beneficial than others when the IPPS approach is applied in a rolling horizon setting.
