A Predictive Model for Satisfying Conflicting Objectives in Scheduling Problems

The economic viability of a manufacturing organization depends on its ability to maximize customer services; maintain efficient, low-cost operations; and minimize total investment. These objectives conflict with one another and, thus, are difficult to achieve on an operational basis. Much of the work in the area of automated scheduling systems recognizes this problem but does not address it effectively. The work presented by this Ph.D. dissertation was motivated by the desire to generate good, cost-effective schedules in dynamic and stochastic manufacturing environments.