Simultaneous Scheduling of Machines and Material Handling System in an FMS

This paper exploits the interactions between the machine scheduling and the scheduling of Material Handling System in a given Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) layout with an objective of minimization of makespan and to study the overall feasibility of generation of optimal simultaneous schedules. A heuristic scheduling algorithm is developed which takes into account both machine and vehicle scheduling constraints and determines the starting and completion times of operations for each job and the trips between workstations together with the vehicle assignment