View article

This paper proposes a novel hybrid discrete differential evolution (HDDE) algorithm for solving blocking flow shop scheduling problems to minimize the maximum completion time (i.e. makespan). Firstly, in the algorithm, the individuals are represented as discrete job permutations, and new mutation and crossover operators are developed for this representation, so that the algorithm can directly work in the discrete domain. Secondly, a local search algorithm based on insert neighborhood structure is embedded in the algorithm to balance the exploration and exploitation by enhancing the local searching ability. In addition, a speed-up method to evaluate insert neighborhood is developed to improve the efficiency of the whole algorithm. Computational simulations and comparisons based on the well-known benchmark instances of Taillard [Benchmarks for basic scheduling problems. European Journal of Operational …