Sequencing Problem

Introduction
The selection of an appropriate order for a series of
jobs to be done on a finite number of service
facilities, in some pre-assigned order, is called
sequencing.
A practical situation may corresponds to an industry
producing a number of products, each of which is to
be processed through different machines, of course,
finite in number.
The general sequencing problem may be defined as:
Let there be n jobs to be performed one at a time on
Introduction
on each of m machines. The sequence (order) of the
machines in which each job should be performed is
given. The actual or expected time required by the
jobs on each of the machines is also given. The
general sequencing problem, therefore, is to find the
sequence out of (n!)
m
possible sequences which
minimize the total elapsed time between the start
of the job in the first machine and the completion
of the job on the last machine.
Assumptions
Each job once started on a machine, is to be
performed up to completion on that machine.
The processing time on each machine is known.
Such a time is independent of the order of the jobs in
which they are to be processed.
The time taken by each job in changing over from
one machine to another is negligible.
Assumptions
A job starts on he machine as soon as the job and the
machine both are idle and job is next to the machine
and the machine is also next to the job.
No machine may process more than one job
simultaneously.
The order of completion of job has no significance,
i.e. no job is to be given priority. The order of
completion of jobs is independent of sequence of
jobs.
Basic Terms
Number of Machines: It refers to the no. of service
facilities through which a job must pass before it is
assumed to be completed.
Processing Order: It refers to the order (sequence)
in which given machines are required for completing
the job.
Processing Time: It indicates the time required by a
job on each machine.

Basic Terms
Total Elapsed Time: It is the time interval between
starting the 1
st
job and completing the last job
including the idle time in a particular order by the
given set of machines.
Idle time on a machine: It is the time for which a
machine does not have a job to process, i.e. idle time
from the end of job (i-1) to the start of job i.
Basic Terms
Processing Time: It indicates the time required by a
job on each machine.
No passing rule: It refers to the rule of maintaining
the order in which jobs are to be processed on given
machines.
Processing n jobs through 2 machines
Let there be n jobs, each of which is to be processed
through 2 machines, say M
1
& M
2
in the order
M
1
M
2
. That is, each job has to pass through the
same sequence of operations.
Or, a job is assigned on M
1
first and after it has been
completely machine M
1
, it is assigned to machine
M
2
.
If the machine M
2
is not free at the moment for
processing the same job, then the job has to wait in a
waiting line for its turn on machine M
2
(no passing).

Processing n jobs through 2 machines
Let t
ij
(i=1,2 and j=1,2,,n) be the time required for
processing jth job on the ith machine.
Since passing is not allowed, therefore machine
M
1
will remain busy in processing all the n jobs one
by one while machine M
2
may remain idle after
completion of one job and before starting of another
job.
Thus the objective is to minimize the idle time od
the 2
nd
machine.

Processing n jobs through 2 machines
Let X
2j
be the time for which machine M
2
remains
idle after finishing (j-1)th job and before starting
processing jth job (j=1,2,,n).
Total Elapsed Time (T) is

The problem is to minimize T. However, since
is the total time for which machine M
2
has to work
and is thus fixed, it does not form a part of the
optimization problem.

= =
+
n
1 j
2j
n
1 j
2j
X t

=
n
1 j
2j
t
Processing n jobs through 2 machines
Thus the problem reduces to that of minimize

A convenient procedure for obtaining a sequence of
performing jobs to minimize is well illustrated
by the following Gantt Chart:

=
n
1 j
2j
X

=
n
1 j
2j
X
Time taken in hours
M
1


M
2

t
11
t
12
t
13
t
14
t
15
t
1n


X
21
t
21
X
22
t
22
X
23
t
23
X
24
t
24
X
25
X
2n
t
2n


{ }
{ }
{ }

|
|
.
|

\
|

|
|
.
|

\
|
=

|
|
.
|

\
|
= + +
+ + =
= + = +
+ =

+ > + +
=
=


= = = =
= = =
11
1
1 j
2j
2
1 j
1j
3
1 j
2
1 j
2j 1j
2
1 j
2j
3
1 j
2
1 j
2j 1j 23 22 21
22 21 22 21 13 12 11 23
11 21 11 21 12 11 22 21
21 21 12 11 22
22
21 21 12 11 21 21 12 11
22
11 21
t , t t , t t Max.
X , t t Max. X X X
0 , X X t t t t t Max. X Similarly,
t X since , t , t t t Max. X X
Thus
0 , t X t t Max. X
: as written be may X for expression Thus
otherwise 0
t X t t if t X t t
t X
clear that is it chart, the From
X

t ,...., t t , t t Max. X
General, n
11
2 - n
1 j
2j
1 - n
1 j
1j
n
1 j
1 - n
1 j
2j 1j
n
1 j
2j

|
|
.
|

\
|

|
|
.
|

\
|
=

= = = = =
I
Optimum sequence Algorithm
List the jobs along with their processing times in a
table.



Examine the rows for processing times on machines
M
1
and M
2
, and find the smallest processing time in
each row, i.e. find out min.(t
1j
, t
2j
) for all j.

2n 23 22 21 2
1n 13 12 11 1
n 3 2 1
t .......... t t t : M
t .......... t t t : M
machine on Time Processing
J .......... J J J : Number Job
Optimum sequence Algorithm
If the smallest processing time is for the first
machine M
1
, then place the corresponding job in the
1
st
available position in the sequence, otherwise
place 2
nd
machine M
2
.
If there is a tie in selecting the minimum of all the
processing times, then there may be 3 situations
1. Minimum among all processing times is same for
the machines, i.e., min.(t
1j
, t
2j
)= t
1k
= t
2r
, then process
the kth job first and the rth job last.
Optimum sequence Algorithm
2. If the tie for minimum occurs among processing
times t
1j
on machine M
1
only, then select arbitrarily
the job to process first.
3. If the tie for minimum occurs among processing
times t
2j
on machine M
2
, then select arbitrarily the
job to process last.
Cross off the jobs already assigned and repeat steps
1 through 4, placing the remaining jobs next to first
or next to last, until all the jobs have been assigned.

Optimum sequence Algorithm
Calculate idle time for machines M
1
and M
2
:
Idle time for M
1
= Total elapsed time (time when
the last job in a sequence finishes on M
1
.
Idle time for M
2
= Time at which the 1
st
job in a
sequence finishes on M
1
+ (time when the jth job
in a sequence starts on M
2
) {(time when the (j-
1)th job in a sequences finishes on M
2
)}
The total elapsed time to process all jobs through 2
machines as under:

=
n
2 j
Total elapsed time= Time when the nth job in a
sequence finishes on machine M
2
.

job. jth on work starting before and job
1)th - (j processing after idle remains M machine for which Time I
M machine on job jth processing for required Time t Where,
I t
M machine on finishes sequence a in job nth when the Time time elapsed Total
2 2j
2 2j
n
2 j
2j
n
2 j
2j
2
=
=
+ =
=

= =
Example
In a factory, there are six jobs to perform, each of
which should go through 2 machines A & B, in the
order A, B. The processing timings (hrs) for the jobs
are given here. You are required to determine the
sequence for performing the jobs that would
minimize the total elapsed time, T. What is the value
of T?

10 2 2 3 6 5 : B
3 6 5 8 3 1 : A
machine on Time Processing
J J J J J J : Job
6 5 4 3 2 1
Solution
The smallest processing time in the given problem is
1 on machine A. So, perform J
1
in the beginning.
The reduced set of processing times becomes


The min. processing time in this reduced problem is
2 which corresponds to J
4
& J
5
both on machine B.
Since the corresponding processing time of J
5
on
machine A is larger than the processing time of J
4

on machine A, J
5
will be processed in the last and J
4

10 2 2 3 6 : B
3 6 5 8 3 : A
machine on Time Processing
J J J J J : Job
6 5 4 3 2
Solution
shall be processed next to last. The updated job
sequence is

The remaining processing times are:


Now, there is a tie among 3 jobs for the smallest
processing time in this reduced problem.
These corresponds to J
2
and J
6
on machine A, and to

J
1
J
4
J
5

10 3 6 : B
3 8 3 : A
machine on Time Processing
J J J : Job
6 3 2
Solution
J
3
on machine B.
As the corresponding processing time of J
6
on
machine B is larger than the corresponding
processing time of J
2
on machine B, J
6
will be
processed next to J
1
and J
2
should be placed next.
The updated job sequence is:


The sequence is optimum one. The total elapsed
time is calculated below:
J
1
J
6
J
2
J
3
J
4
J
5
Job Machine A
In Out
Machine B
In Out
Idle time
on B
J
1
0 1 1 6 1
J
6
1 4 6 16 --
J
2
4 7 16 22 --
J
3
7 15 22 25 --
J
4
15 20 25 27 --
J
5
20 26 27 29 --
T=29 hrs
Solution
Idle time of machine A is 29-26 = 3 hrs and
Idle time of machine B is 1 hr
The Gantt chart for the above problem is
A



B



J
1
J
6
J
2
J
3
J
4
J
5



J
1
J
6
J
2
J
3
J
4
J
5
X
21


2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
Gantt Chart