ANZIAM  J.  48 (2007), 475-492

Robustness of cyclic schedules for the charging of batteries

Simon Dunstall   CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences   Private Bag 33   Clayton South 3169   Australia     Simon.Dunstall@csiro.au Graham Mills   CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences   Private Bag 2   Glen Osmond 5064   Australia     Graham.Mills@bigpond.com

Abstract

In 2002 the Mathematics in Industry Study Group (MISG) investigated the question of optimally scheduling cyclic production in a battery charging and finishing facility. The facility produces various types of battery and the scheduling objective is tomaximize battery throughout subject to achieving a pre-specified product-mix. In this paperwe investigate the robustness of such schedules using simulation experiments that span multiple production cycles. We simulate random variations (delays) in battery charging time and find that an optimal off-line schedule yields higher throughput in comparison to a common on-line dispatching rule. This result has been found to hold for a range of expected chargingtime delays and has significant practical implications for scheduling battery charging and finishing facilities.

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