Flexibility and Robustness in Scheduling

Scheduling is a broad research area and scheduling problems arise from several application domains (production systems, logistic, computer science, etc.). Solving scheduling problems requires tools of combinatorial optimization, exact or approximated algorithms. Flexibility is at the frontier between predictive deterministic approaches and reactive or "on-line" approaches. The purpose of flexibility is to provide one or more solutions adapted to the context of the application in order to provide the ideal solution. This book focuses on the integration of flexibility and robustness considerations in the study of scheduling problems. After considering both flexibility and robustness, it then covers various scheduling problems, treated with an emphasis on flexibility or robustness, or both.

Aziz Moukrim is Professor in Computer Science at the the University of Technology of Compiegne, France, and is a member of the UTC-CNFRS research laboratory (Heudiasyc). He teaches algorithmic and operations research (Scheduling, logistics and transportation systems). He is also co-leader of the CNRS Group (Scheduling and Transportation Networks).

Eric Sanlaville is Associate Professor In Computer Science at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, France. He teaches algorithmics and operations research (both in deterministic and stochastic settings). He has been a member of het board of the French OR Society since 004.