Optimal schedules for single facility with two job classes (Q1085046)

A single facility scheduling problem with jobs divided into two mutually exclusive classes is considered when the setup time depends on the class of jobs immediately preceding the job being currently processed. The jobs in a given class need not be processed together. Based on a combinatorial analysis of the problem, an algorithm is developed to obtain an optimal schedule when the objective is to minimize mean flow time. The proposed algorithm is polynomially bounded in terms of the computational effort needed to solve the problem.