This study focuses on the flexible job shop scheduling problem with sequence-dependent setup times (FJSP-SDST), and the goal is minimizing the makespan. To solve FJSP-SDST, first, we develop a constraint programming (CP) model to obtain optimal solutions. Due to the NP-hardness of FJSP-SDST, a CP assisted meta-heuristic algorithm (C-VNS-CP) is designed to make use of the advantages of both CP model and cooperative variable neighborhood search (C-VNS). The C-VNS-CP algorithm consists of two stages. The first stage involves C-VNS, for which eight neighborhood structures are defined. In the second stage, CP is used to further optimize the good solution obtained from C-VNS. In order to prove the efficiency of the C-VNS algorithm, CP model, and C-VNS-CP algorithm, experiments of 20 instances are conducted.

With a decentral and global economy, distributed scheduling problems are getting a lot of attention. This paper addresses a distributed flexible job shop scheduling problem (DFJSP) with minimizing makespan, in which three subproblems, namely operations sequencing, factory selection and machine selection must be determined. To solve the DFJSP, a novel mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model is first developed, which can solve the small-scaled instances to optimality. Since the NP-hard characteristic of DFJSP, a hybrid algorithm (GA-VNS-CP) of genetic algorithm (GA), variable neighborhood search (VNS) and constraint programming (CP). Specifically, the GA-VNS-CP is divided into two stages. The first stage uses the hybrid meta-heuristic algorithms of GA and VNS (GA-VNS), and the VNS is designed to improve the local search ability of GA. In GA-VNS, the encoding only considers the factory selection and the operations sequencing problems, and the machine selection problem is determined by the decoding rule. Because the solution space may be limited by the decoding rule, the second stage uses the CP to extend the solution and further improve the solution. Numerical experiments based on benchmark instances are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the MILP model, VNS, CP and GA-VNS-CP. The experimental results show effectiveness of the MILP model, VNS and CP. Moreover, the GA-VNS-CP algorithm has better performance than traditional algorithms and improves 6 current best solutions for benchmark instances

In Australia, Bioenergy plays an important role in modern power systems, where many biomass resources provide greenhouse gas neutral and electricity at a variety of scales. By 2050, the Biomass energy is projected to have a 40-50 % share as an alternative source of energy. In addition to conversion of biomass, barriers and uncertainties in the production, supply may hinder biomass energy development. The sugarcane is an essential ingredient in the production of Bioenergy, across the whole spectrum ranging from the first generation to second generation, e.g., production of energy from the lignocellulosic component of the sugarcane initially regarded as waste (bagasse and cane residue). Sustainable recovery of the Lignocellulosic component of sugarcane from the field through a structured process is largely unknown and associated with high capital outlay that have stifled the growth of bioenergy sector. In this context, this paper develops a new scheduler to optimise the recovery of lignocellulosic component of sugarcane and cane, transport and harvest systems with reducing the associated costs and operational time. An Optimisation Algorithm called Limited Discrepancy Search has been adapted and integrated with the developed scheduling transport algorithms. The developed algorithms are formulated and coded by Optimization Programming Language (OPL) to obtain the optimised cane and cane residues transport schedules. Computational experiments demonstrate that high-quality solutions are obtainable for industry-scale instances. To provide insightful decisions, sensitivity analysis is conducted in terms of different scenarios and criteria.

The Orienteering Problem (OP) is an optimization problem that finds the locations and routes that will return the highest profit/benefit, starting from the initial location of the traveler/vehicle, visiting these locations, and ending with the starting location of the tour within a given time or distance limit. There is no obligation to visit all locations in the problem structure. OP has many real-life applications, such as staff routing and disaster relief routing. In this study, OP with Time Windows (OPTW), an extension of OP, is discussed with hotel selection and mandatory visits. Although the main objective of OPTW is profit maximization, it is also essential to minimize the total travel time to complete the tour efficiently. For this reason, we consider the OPTW as a multi-objective problem. In the problem considered here, it is assumed that the profit/benefit, travel time between locations, service period, and time interval that each location can be visited are determined to be known. Within the scope of the study, first, a Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) model is prepared for the problem. Since the proposed mathematical model does not provide solutions in a reasonable time for large networks, the problem is solved by a Constraint Programming (CP) approach. Attractive tourist points of interest for Izmir, one of Turkey's major tourist cities, are determined, and the proposed method is applied to the real-life problem. The problem is modeled as Multi-Objective OPTW with MIP and CP and solved. Also, sensitivity analysis is performed by considering two different scenarios.