Abstract
In sheet metal processing, nesting and scheduling are important factors for the efficient manufacturing. Nesting and scheduling often become a trade-off. In our previous studies, therefore, we have proposed an integrated method of nesting and scheduling. In the previous study, the operational sequence of punching process is modified by using genetic algorithm. We were able to reduce total tardiness about 7 % on average by this method. However, in the previous study, scheduling problem was solved under the condition that punching process has only single machine. In the actual manufacturing site, there are some equipment in punching process. In this study, therefore, we propose a scheduling method by using the genetic algorithm and dispatching rule. In this method, we decide the operational sequence of punching process by using the genetic algorithm for the case when the equipment are the special purpose machine, by using simple rule for the case when the equipment are the general-purpose machine. Finally, we verify the effectiveness of the proposed method through some computational experiments.
