Bi-objective optimization of flexible flow shop scheduling problem with multi-skilled human resources

In this article, a Multi-skilled Resource-Constrained Flexible Flow Shop Scheduling Problem (MSRC-FFSSP) is introduced. To process each job at every machine within this problem category, it is imperative to possess at least one set of multi-skilled human resources. Each human resource can operate a minimum of 1 and a maximum of N jobs depending on their skills and each job requires a minimum set of different skills. For this problem, the model is formulated as a MILP model with two objectives: i) minimizing the total completion time and ii) minimizing the total idle time for human resources. Moreover, a case study in a preventive maintenance environment as a flow shop is performed to establish the applicability of the model in real -world problems. Given that the problem is NP-Hard, a Genetic Algorithm (GA) and a Simulated Annealing (SA) algorithm in which the related parameters are tuned by the Taguchi method are presented. Finally, numerical results have been presented to verify the model, in addition to the analysis of the idle time of human resources. Additionally, to solve this problem, it was shown that the GA has better efficiency and performance compared to the SA algorithm. However, the SA algorithm outperforms the GA in terms of running time.