A GRASP approach to transporter scheduling and routing at a shipyard

We address the transporter scheduling and routing problem at a shipyard, which can be transformed into parallel machine scheduling with sequence-dependent setup times and precedence constraints. The objective is to maximize the workload balance among transporters under the time constraint that all assembly blocks should be transported in the predetermined period. We develop the GRASP algorithm for transporter scheduling and routing. Through simulation experiments we analyze some aspects of the developed GRASP algorithm and verify the performance of the developed GRASP algorithm. The comparison experiments show that the developed GRASP algorithm is a promising heuristic for transporter scheduling and routing.

► We describe the transporter scheduling and routing problem at a shipyard. ► The problem can be transformed into a scheduling problem for parallel machines. ► Sequence-dependent setup times and job precedence constraints are also considered. ► We develop the GRASP algorithm for transporter scheduling and routing. ► Computer simulation obtains encouraging results with the developed GRASP algorithm.