An Effective Heuristic Rescheduling Method for Steelmaking and Continuous Casting Production Process with Multirefining Modes

Job start-time delay often occurs in the steelmaking and continuous casting (SCC) production that changes constraints or assumptions on which the initial scheduling plan is based. The development of effective rescheduling method that allows the system to promptly react to such disruption becomes essential to improve productivity, reduce production costs, and enable efficient material and energy utilization. This paper tackles this challenge and presents a comprehensive analysis of start-time delay disturbance, its consequences, and strategies to resolve conflicts. A heuristic rescheduling algorithm is then proposed to allow the system to remain alert to this type of disruption in real SCC production, and to quickly react it with an optimal rescheduling plan that has the minimum total waiting time. The proposed methodology and algorithm are applied to and illustrated through both a simulated prototypical SCC system and Shanghai BaoSteel plant, a real industrial setting.