A DSS approach for heterogeneous parallel machines scheduling with due windows, processor-&-sequence-dependent setup and proximate supply chain constraints

This paper describes the basis of a Decision Support System (DSS) designed to support scheduling for a fertilizer production plant made up of several parallel lines of heterogeneous characteristics, with setup time depending on sequence and lines, and taking into account non-availability constraints; it also considers the primary impacts of schedule upstream and downstream of the supply chain which integrates the plant. Our DSS uses an original MILP scheduling formulation whose implementation, through an Algebraic Modeling Languages (AML), facilitates interaction with the scheduler to formulate an instantiated problem whose optimal solution is acceptable