TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to propose an algorithm based on genetic algorithm (GA) to solve the block erection scheduling problem in shipbuilding.Design/methodology/approach– The block erection scheduling problem is defined as the identical parallel machine‐scheduling problem with precedence constraints and machine eligibility (PCME) restrictions. A GA is proposed to find near optimal solution, and a few lower bounds and the percentage of the reduced makespan are defined to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. Finally, the GA for block erection scheduling problem in a shipyard is illustrated by using the real data from a local shipyard.Findings– The proposed GA produces lesser values of makespan against the random heuristic algorithm for the collected real instances.Research limitations/implications– The proposed GA can solve other similar parallel machine‐scheduling problems with PCME to minimize makespan.Practical implications– Based on the proposed GA, the developed scheduling system for block erection in a shipyard can reduce the makespan of block erection, and contribute to the productivity improvement.Originality/value– The allocation of block erection to the crane is modeled as a parallel machine‐scheduling problem with PCME, and the GA is developed to solve this problem to minimize makespan.
VL  - 20
IS  - 4
SN  - 1741-038X
DO  - 10.1108/17410380910953757
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/17410380910953757
AU  - Jinsong Bao
AU  - Xiaofeng Hu
AU  - Ye Jin
PY  - 2009
Y1  - 2009/01/01
TI  - A genetic algorithm for minimizing makespan of block erection in shipbuilding
T2  - Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management
PB  - Emerald Group Publishing Limited
SP  - 500
EP  - 512
Y2  - 2024/09/22
ER  -