Production scheduling system for job shop enteprise using ant colony optimization approach

Abstract

Current computerized scheduling system shows inability to search for the best product route among all possible routes. But in the real working environment, different product route plays a vital role especially for enterprises that produces a variety of product at one time. This research describes the development of a scheduling system that generates all possible product routes. This scheduling system operates based on the push scheduling concept. Then, with the aid of Ant Colony Optimization concept, all possible product processing routes are evaluated according to the total product scheduling time. At the end of the optimization process, the best product processing route can be identified based on the shortest processing time (SPT) calculated in the scheduling system. The system was developed using the Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0, while the system databases were built using the Microsoft Access. All the required data are provided by a manufacturing company in Muar, Johor.