Multi-objective genetic algorithm for energy-efficient job shop scheduling

The paper investigates the effects of production scheduling policies aimed towards improving productive and environmental performances in a job shop system. A green genetic algorithm allows the assessment of multi-objective problems related to sustainability. Two main considerations have emerged from the application of the algorithm. First, the algorithm is able to achieve a semi-optimal makespan similar to that obtained by the best of other methods but with a significantly lower total energy consumption. Second, the study demonstrated that the worthless energy consumption can be reduced significantly by employing complex energy-efficient machine behaviour policies.