Event-driven dynamic scheduling of mixed-flow shop of architectural ceramic forming process considering energy-saving

Manufacturer of architectural ceramic faces growing market demand on diversity and flexibility while confined by the environmental policies on energy consumption and related carbon emission. This paper studies the event-driven dynamic scheduling of mixed-flow workshop in architectural ceramic factories for promoting production efficiency. A mathematical model is first established for dynamic scheduling with multiple variables and small batch sizes to formulate the mixed-flow workshop scheduling problem of architectural ceramic manufacturing. Various experiments are conducted to find the optimal scheduling solutions. The scheduling rules are formulated according to the manufacturing process characteristics of architectural ceramics, including pressing, drying of the greenware, glazing, and final firing. These rules take into account the event-driven dynamic uncertainty caused by equipment failures. The validation results indicate that the energy consumption of the fully rescheduled scheme is significantly reduced.