Optimizing blocking flow shop scheduling problem with total completion time criterion

The blocking flow shop scheduling problem has found many applications in manufacturing systems. There are a few exact methods for solving this problem with different criteria. In this paper, efforts will be made to optimize the total completion time criterion for this problem. We present two mixed binary integer programming models, one of which is based on the departure times of jobs from machines, and the other is based on the idle and blocking times of jobs. An initial upper bound generator and some lower bounds and dominance rules are also developed to be used in a branch and bound algorithm. The algorithm solves 17 instances of the Taillard's benchmark problem set in less than 20 min.