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Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2014 ISSN 2319 - 4847

Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2014 Page 147


Abstract
This paper establishes a linkage between a weighted flow-shop scheduling system with a Queue-network in which a common
service channel is linked in series with each of two parallel biserial service channels. Where weight of a job shows the relative
priority over some other job in a schedule of jobs and in queue-network, it is assumed that the arrival & service pattern in the
system both follow Poisson distribution. The objective of the paper is twofold- one to minimizes the weighted mean flow time of
two machines and the other, to determines the total waiting times of jobs/items for the optimal sequence of jobs/items in a given
queue network model, when items/jobs are processed in a combined system that has the practical utili ty in the industries, where
production is done in such complex stages. A heuristic algorithm is derived and made clear through a numerical illustration.

Keywords: Queue-network, Poisson- process, waiting time, mean queue length, Biseries, weighted flow-shop.

1. INTRODUCTION
So far the survey of scheduling and queuing theory is concerned; we find a lot of work is being done separately in these
fields (Johnson [1954], Jackson [1954], Ignall and Scharge [1965], Maggu [1970], and Singh T.P. [1986] etc.), very little
work is found to deal with combining operation of these two systems. Johnson [1954] gave polynomial time scheduling
algorithm to minimize the total idle time of machines in two stage flow-shop scheduling. Maggu [1970] studied a
network of two queues in biseries finding the total idle times of items/customers. Maggu & Dass [1985] introduce the
concept of weight for the jobs in flow-shop scheduling. Singh T.P.etal [1986, 2005, 2006] studied the behavioral aspect of
various types of queue and scheduling system of practical importance under different parameters. Further Singh T.P. &
Kumar Vinod [2005, 2006] studied the transient and steady-state behaviour of biserial channels linked with a common
channel. Singh T.P. & Kumar Vinod [2008] deals the combining operation to a scheduling system with a network of
queuing system in series.
Recently, Singh T.P. & Kumar Vinod [2009, 2010] made an attempt to continue the idea of combining operation to a
scheduling system with a biserial queuing network in wider aspect.
This paper is further an extension of the study made by Singh T.P. & Kumar Vinod [2009, 2010] and establishes a
linkage between a network of weighted flow-shop processing the jobs with a queue network in biseries which are linked to
a common channel. Thus the paper makes a bridge between the two-stage scheduling system given by Johnson [1954]
with weighted flow-shop system introduced by Maggu & Dass [1985] on one side, and on other side a network of queue
model given by Kumar Vinod & Singh T.P. [2005, 2006].

2. ASSUMPTIONS
1. Each jobs is processed in the prescribed order M
1
, M
2
, ---, M
m
i.e. a flow-shop, also no passing of jobs is permitted.
And a machine can process only one job at a time.
2. Let M
ij
denote the processing time of job J
i
on M
j
. Set up times for operations are sequence-independent and are
included in the processing times.
3. Each job is assigned weight w
i
according to its importance.
4. Let F
j
(i) denote the partial flow-time of J
i
counted from the starting time of first job J
1
on M
1
, in particular, F
m
(i) is
called as flow-time of J
i
.
5. The performance measure is weighted mean flow-time defined by-

=
=
=
n
1 i
i
n
1 i
m i
w
w
(i) F w
F

6. We assume that the effective arrival rate at the first queue in the model follows Poisson distribution.
7. The weighted mean flow-time in the optimal schedule of the items process through the machines formed the mean
arrival rate at the first service channel in the queue network model.
8. For the existence of steady-state behaviour following condition is hold-
On Linkage of A Weighted Flow-Shop
Scheduling System with Biserial Queue
Network

Vinod Kumar Kakoria

Deptt. of Mathematics S.B.M.N. Engg. College Asthal Bohar, Rohtak, Haryana [INDIA]
International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering& Management (IJAIEM)
Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: editor@ijaiem.org
Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2014 ISSN 2319 - 4847

Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2014 Page 148

<
i
; (i =1,2,---) i.e.
i

= <1
Where : Mean arrival rate.
i
: Mean service rate. : Utility factor.

3. PRACTICAL SITUATION
We can consider a network of such weighted flow-shop system in a Production concern in which the machines are linked
serially with a network of queues comprised of three service channels, one of them is commonly linked in series with each
of other two servers in biseries. Let us suppose, there are machines for grinding & finishing. The jobs/items which are
stored in godown with relative priority over some other jobs/items after grinding & finishing on the machines enter to the
queue system and join any server without condition (i.e. they can join any server first out of the two biserial servers and
then join the second) for the two types of labeling (one is for Company Mark & other is for the Product Name) on the
product. After labeled both the label, items/jobs go to the third common server for O.K- Testing. Finally after completing
the service items/jobs goes out from the network.

4. MATHEMATICAL MODELING
Consider a network of weighted flow-shop system n-jobs 2-machine M
1
& M
2
linked serially with a network of queues
comprised of three service channels S
1
, S
2
& S
3
, where S
3
is commonly linked in series with each of two servers in
biseries S
1
& S
2
. Queues Q
1
, Q
2
& Q
3
are formed in front of the servers S
1
, S
2
& S
3
, if they are busy. It is to be assumed
that the output weighted mean flow-time of jobs in the optimal sequence follows Poisson law. Also the weighted mean
flow-time of these jobs in the optimal sequence of the jobs form the effective average arrival rate = Here items/jobs after
getting optimal sequence may join either the queue Q
1
or Q
2
with the probabilities p & q respectively such that p +q =1.
Further the items after taking service at S
1
, will join S
2
& S
3
with the probabilities p
12
or p
13
such that p
12
+p
13
=1 and
the items after taking service at S
2
will join S
1
or S
3
with the probabilities p
21
& p
23
such that p
21
+p
23
=1.

Figure 1 Pictorial Model

5. ALGORITHM
The algorithm is decomposed into following steps:
Step 1. Find
( )
ij
j
min M
for every
i 1,2,3,......,n
j 1,2.
=

Step 2. (i) If
( )
ij
j
min M
=
i1
M
, then define-
'
i1 i1 i
'
i 2 i2
M M w
M M
=
=

(ii) If
( )
ij
j
min M
=
i2
M , then define-
'
i1 i1
'
i 2 i 2 i
M M
M M w
=
= +

Step 3. Formulate a new problem as below:
Table 1

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Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2014 Page 149


Step 4. Find optimal sequence by using Johnson [1954] algorithm for the reduced problem in step-3. This will be
optimal or near to optimal for the original problem minimizing the weighted mean flow-time.
Step 5. Find weighted mean flow-time for the optimal sequence obtained in step-4 by using the formula-

=
=
=
n
1 i
i
n
1 i
m i
w
w
(i) F w
F

Step 6. The weighted mean flow-time w F obtained in step-5 is the mean arrival rate for the queue network .
Step 7. Apply Mean queue length formula for the steady-state system given by Singh T.P. & Kumar Vinod [2005, 2006],
which is as-
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
12 1 2 21 12 2
12 1 2
21 2 1 21 12 1
21 2 1
p p p 1
p
p p p 1
p
L
+
+
+
+
+
=


( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) | |
12 1 2 23 21 2 1 13 21 12 3
12 1 2 23 21 2 1 13
p p p p p p 1
p p p p
+ + +
+ + +
+

The steady-state equations of the system exist under the assumptions-
(i)
( )
( )
21 12 1
21 2 1
p p 1
p

+
<1
(ii)
( )
( )
21 12 2
12 1 2
p p 1
p

+
<1
(iii)
( ) ( )
( )
21 12 3
12 1 2 23 21 2 1 13
p p 1
p p p p

+ + +
<1
Where
1
= p,
2
= q s.t. p +q =1
Step 8. Find the Waiting time for the customer by using well-known Littles [1961] formula-

L
W =


6. NUMERICAL ILLUSTRATION
Consider four jobs are processed through the network of two machines M
1
& M
2
in this order with processing time M
ij

and weight w
i
of job i on machine j given as-
Table 2

Let this scheduling system is linked with a network of three queues Q
1
, Q
2
& Q
3
with the service channels S
1
, S
2
& S
3
,
where S
3
is commonly linked in series with each of two servers in biseries S
1
& S
2
. Let
1
=25,
2
=30 &
3
=40 be the
mean service rate for the service channels S
1
,

S
2
& S
3
respectively, where is the arrival rate of items/jobs and remember
<
1
, <
2
and <
3
. Let p =0.45 & q =0.55 be the probabilities of joining the items/jobs after getting optimal
sequence to queues Q
1
& Q
2
respectively such that p +q =1, and p
12
=0.3 & p
13
=0.7 be the probabilities of joining the
items/jobs to queues Q
2
& Q
3
after taking service at S
1
such that p
12
+p
13
=1. Similarly p
21
=0.6 & p
23
=0.4 be the
probabilities of joining the items/jobs to queues Q
1
& Q
3
after taking service at S
2
such that p
21
+p
23
=1.
Our objective is to find the mean queue length and waiting time of the customers/items in this linkage problem.
6.1 Solution
As per step-1, Find
( )
ij
j
min M for every
i 1,2,3,......,n
j 1,2.
=

min (M
11,
M
12
) =min (4, 6) =4
min (M
21,
M
22
) =min (7, 10) =7
min (M
31,
M
32
) =min (15, 6) =6
min (M
41,
M
42
) =min (9, 13) =9

As per step-2, Re-define the processing times as-

International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering& Management (IJAIEM)
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Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2014 ISSN 2319 - 4847

Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2014 Page 150

M
11
=M
11
w
1
=4 3 =1 M
12
=M
12
=8
M
21
=M
21
w
2
=7 5 =2 M
22
=M
22
=10
M
32
=M
32
+w
3
=6 +2 =8 M
31
=M
31
=15
M
41
=M
41
w
4
=9 4 =5 M
42
=M
42
=13

As per step-3, The reduced problem is-
Table 3


As per step-4, using Johnsons algorithm we get the optimal sequence as-
(1, 2, 4, 3)
As per step-5, the completion time for the optimal sequence obtained in step-1 is-
Table 4
Jobs
(i)
Machine M
1

in -- out
Machine M
2

in -- out
1.
2.
4.
3.
00 --- 04
04 --- 11
11 --- 20
20 --- 35
04 --- 08
11 --- 21
21 --- 34
35 --- 41

F
2
(1) =8, F
2
(2) =21, F
2
(4) =34, F
2
(3) =41.
Hence weighted mean flow-time w F for the schedule (1, 2, 4, 3) is-
4
i 2
i 1
w 4
i
i 1
wF (i)
F
w
=
=
=

=
1 2 2 2 4 2 3 2
1 2 4 3
wF (1) w F (2) w F (4) w F (3)
w w w w
+ + +
+ + +


2 4 5 3
41 2 34 4 21 5 8 3
+ + +
+ + +
=

14
347
=
=24.79
As per step-6, find the effective average arrival rate as-
w F = =24.79
As per step-7, find Mean queue length by using the formula-
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
12 1 2 21 12 2
12 1 2
21 2 1 21 12 1
21 2 1
p p p 1
p
p p p 1
p
L
+
+
+
+
+
=


( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) | |
12 1 2 23 21 2 1 13 21 12 3
12 1 2 23 21 2 1 13
p p p p p p 1
p p p p
+ + +
+ + +
+

Here, p = 0.45, q = 0.55, = 24.79 and
1
=25,
2
=30,
3
=40

1
= p = 24.79 0.45 =11.16 and
2
= q = 24.79 0.55 =13.63
p
12
=0.3 p
13
=0.7 p
21
=0.6 p
23
=0.4

( )
( ) ( ) { }
( )
( ) ( ) { } 0.3 6 1 . 1 1 63 . 3 1 0.6 0.3 1 30
0.3 6 1 . 1 1 63 . 3 1
0.6 63 . 3 1 6 1 . 1 1 0.6 0.3 1 25
0.6 63 . 3 1 6 1 . 1 1
L
+
+
+
+
+
=

International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering& Management (IJAIEM)
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Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2014 ISSN 2319 - 4847

Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2014 Page 151

( ) { } ( ) { }
( ) ( ) { } ( ) { } | | 0.3 6 1 . 1 1 63 . 3 1 0.4 0.6 63 . 3 1 6 1 . 1 1 0.7 0.6 0.3 1 40
0.3 6 1 . 1 1 63 . 3 1 0.4 0.6 63 . 3 1 6 1 . 1 1 0.7
+ + +
+ + +
+


( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) 348 3. 63 . 3 1 0.82 30
348 3. 63 . 3 1
178 . 8 6 1 . 1 1 0.82 25
178 . 8 6 1 . 1 1
+
+
+
+
+
=


( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) | | 348 3. 63 . 3 1 0.4 178 . 8 6 1 . 1 1 0.7 0.82 40
348 3. 63 . 3 1 0.4 178 . 8 6 1 . 1 1 0.7
+ + +
+ + +
+


978 . 6 1 24.6
978 . 6 1
338 . 9 1 20.5
338 . 9 1

=
+
( ) 79 6. 53 . 3 1 32.8
79 6. 53 . 3 1
+
+

=
162 . 1
338 . 9 1
+
22 .6 7
78 .9 6 1
+
48 . 2 1
32 . 20
=16.64 +2.22 +1.63 =20.49
As per step-8, find Total waiting time of a customer using the Littles [1961] formula as-
L
W

= =
79 . 4 2
49 0. 2
=0.826

7. REMARKS
1. If the concept of weights to the jobs in 1
st
phase is not taking in to account, the result of the paper resemble with
[2009].
2. This study is wider and more applicable comparatively to the study made by [2008, 2009, and 2010].
3. L & W are the decision making parameters which are helpful to the managers in an organization to find better
decision for the relevant problems in such a complex system.

References
[1] S.M. Johnson [1954]: Optimal two & three stage production schedule with set-up times included. Nav Res Log.
Quartz. Vol.1 pp 61-68
[2] Jackson. R. R.P.[1954] : Queuing system with phase type service. O.R. Quatz. Vol. 5,No. 4, pp 109-120.
[3] Little John D.C. [1961]: A Proof for the Queuing Formula: L = W Operations Research, Vol. 9, No. 3 (May-J un.,
1961), pp. 383-387.
[4] Ignalle., and Schrage, L. [1965] Application of the branch-and bound technique to some flow shop scheduling
problems. Operation Research, 13,400-412.
[5] Maggu.P.L. [1970]: Phase type service queues with two servers in Biseries. J.Op.Res.Sco. Japan Vol.13, No.1.
[6] Maggu.P.L. & Dass G. [1985]: Elements of Advanced Production Scheduling. United Publishers and Periodical
Distributors, New Delhi, pp 105-111.
[7] Singh T.P. [1986]: Ph.D.Thesis On some networks of Queuing & Scheduling System Garhwal University
Shrinagar Garhwal.
[8] Singh T.P., Kumar Vinod & Kumar Rajender [2005]: On trasient behaviour of a queuing network with parallel
biserial queues.JMASS Vol. 1 No. 2, December. pp 68-75.
[9] Singh T.P., Kumar Vinod & Kumar Rajender [2006]: Steady-state behaviour of a network of queue comprised of
two sub-systems with heterogeneous channels linked in series with a common channel. Reflection des ERA
Vol.1,Issue 2,May. pp 135-52.
[10] Maggu.P.L. & Gupta Shameena [2006]: On a network of two queues in bitandem linked in series with a network of
two machines in flow-shop JISSOR, Vol. XXVII, No.1-4 Dec 2006, pp 11-15.
[11] Singh T.P., Kumar Vinod & Kumar Rajender [2008]: Linkage of Scheduling system with a serial Queue-network
Lingayas Journal of Professional Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1 July-Dec.,2008. pp. 25-30.
[12] Singh T.P., & Kumar Vinod [2009]: On Linkage Of Scheduling System With A Biserial Queue-Network Arya
Bhatta Journal Of Mathematics & Informatics, Vol. 1, No. 1-2 July-Dec., 2009. pp. 71-76. and Presented in National
Conference of ISITA on Challenges in Software Engg. Research & Practices from 30-31 March, 2010.
[13] Singh T.P., & Kumar Vinod [2010]: On Linkage Of Queue Network With Parallel Biserial Channels Linked With
A Common Channel To A Flow-Shop Scheduling System Presented in International Conference of ISITA on
Mathematics and Soft Computing (Applications in Engineering) from 4-5 Dec., 2010.