Movement optimization in flow shop processing with buffers

We consider the movement minimization problem in a conveyer flow shop processing controlled by one worker that has to serve all machines. Each machine can only execute tasks if the worker is present. A few jobs can be queued in a buffer in front of each machine. The objective is to minimize the movement of the worker, which is how often the worker has to change the machines for the processing of all jobs. Such minimization problems usually appear in conveyer controlled manufacturing systems. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2000