Multicriteria Flow-Shop Scheduling Problem

Quality is, in real-life, a multidimensional notion. A schedule is described and valued on the basis of a number of criteria, for example: makespan, work-in-process inventories, idle times, observance of due dates, etc. An appropriate schedule cannot be obtained unless one observes the whole set of important criteria. The multidimensional nature of the scheduling problems leads us to the area of Multicriteria Optmization. Thus considering combinatorial problems with more than one criterion is more relevant in the context of real-life scheduling problems. Research in this important field has been scarce when compared to research in single-criterion scheduling. The proliferation of metaheuristic techniques has encouraged researchers to apply them to combinatorial optimization problems. The chapter presents a review regarding multicriteria flow-shop scheduling problem, focusing on Multi-Objective Combinatorial Optimization theory, including recent developments considering more than one optimization criterion, followed by a summary discussion on research directions.