Integrating intelligent job-scheduling into a real-world production-scheduling system

The paper addresses the problem of scheduling production orders (jobs). First an approach based on simulated annealing and Hopfield nets is described. Since performance was unsatisfactory for real-world applications, we changed problem representation and tuned the scheduling method, dropping features of the Hopfield net and retaining simulated annealing. Both computing time and solution quality were significantly improved. The scheduling method was then integrated into a software system for short-term production planning and control ("electronic leitstand"). The paper describes how real-world requirements are met and how the scheduling method interacts with the leitstand's database and graphical representation of schedules.