DYNAMIC SINGLE-MACHINE-WEIGHTED ABSOLUTE DEVIATION PROBLEM - PREDICTIVE HEURISTICS AND EVALUATION

We address a dynamic single-machine scheduling problem where the objec tive is to minimize the weighted absolute deviation of completion time s from the due dates. This objective approximates a decisionmaker's go al in a just-in-time environment which is the primary motivation for t he problem. Several heuristics are developed and tested. We use a nove l approach to heuristic development by designing it in modules. At eac h decision epoch, the front end provides a look-ahead feature, the mai n theme develops a sequence, and the balancing routine determines the schedule. The performance of the heuristics as well as modules of the heuristics are tested by simulation experiments across several classes of problems. By analysing the results we develop some guidelines for operational decisions.