ABSTRACT
Optimization is the science of getting best results subject to various resource constraints. Professionals from academic institutions and industries have started realizing the importance of the new manufacturing optimization, in order to improve performance. Many conventional optimization techniques are used for solving different manufacturing optimization problems. To overcome the difficulties with the conventional techniques, the intelligent techniques are described: genetic algorithm, simulated annealing algorithm, particle swarm optimization, tabu search and ant colony optimization. Many computing facilities and numerous non-conventional techniques—particularly intelligent techniques—are available for constructing the mathematical model and to develop the procedure and software. It is proposed to formulate the various manufacturing activities as optimization problems and to use different intelligent techniques for solving the same. Due to lack of computational facilities and optimization techniques, few attempts were made to formulate the various manufacturing activities as optimization problems and to develop the procedures for the same. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
