Minimizing makespan for solving the distributed no-wait flowshop scheduling problem

• This paper is the first research to solve the distributed no-wait flowshop scheduling problem.
• The proposed ICG algorithm provides a practical means of solving this problem.
• This study contributes significantly to expand the research on distributed scheduling problems.

This paper presents the distributed no-wait flowshop scheduling problem (DNFSP), which is the first attempt in the literature to solve this key problem faced by the manufacturing industry. A mixed integer programming (MIP) mathematical model and an iterated cocktail greedy (ICG) algorithm are developed for solving this problem of how to minimize the makespan among multiple plants. The ICG algorithm presented herein is an enhanced version of the iterated greedy algorithm, and it includes two self-tuning mechanisms and a cocktail destruction mechanism. Exhaustive computational experiments and statistical analyses show that the proposed ICG algorithm is a highly efficient approach that provides a practical means for solving the challenging DNFSP.