Algorithm for integrated programming of production and preventive maintenance on identical parallel machines

Abstract

The present paper introduces an algorithm for the integrated programming of production and preventive maintenance in a productive configuration of identical parallel machines, aiming to minimize the total manufacturing time. The algorithm has been structured in two phases; in the first one, an initial solution is obtained, resulting from the application of a designed and proposed constructive heuristic that is inspired by the Largest Processing Time dispatch rule, with some modifications allowing it to consider the stochastic nature of the problem and the possibility that several jobs may have different release dates; in phase 2, an attempt is made to improve the initial solution using a simulated annealing method. As a way of evaluating its feasibility the algorithm was implemented in a company producing products derived from plastic, demonstrating through the results obtained its potential as a mechanism to improve operational capabilities.