Flowshop scheduling problems

Many combinatorial problems occur in various practical and industrial situations for which there is a pressing need to use scienti¿c methods that allow solving them ef¿ciently. Scheduling theory is one of the most important ¿elds in the combinatorial optimization area. It consists on the study of the distribution of available resources to carry out a set of activities during a giving period. Several problems can be considered as scheduling problems. In our book, we are interested in production scheduling problems. Within a highly competitive economic environment, the ability of industrial companies to produce at lower costs and at the right time while respecting some constraints to ensure the expected quality of products constitutes a decisive factor of their survival and success.