Stability-oriented evaluation of rescheduling strategies, by using simulation

The paper proposes a simulation-based evaluation technique for the testing, validation and benchmarking of rescheduling methods. Dynamic and stochastic scheduling problems with possible scheduling environments are presented. Based on our review of the related literature, frequently applied rescheduling approaches for solving dynamic and stochastic job-shop scheduling problems are analyzed. Schedule evaluation techniques, related measures, and simulation-based schedule evaluation solutions are also introduced and categorized. Certain stability-oriented evaluations of periodic and hybrid rescheduling methods are described for both single- and multi-machine (job-shop) cases. Finally, an industrial application of the proposed method is presented. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.