MILP Modeling and Optimization of Three-Stage Flexible Job Shop Scheduling Problem with Assembly and AGV Transportation

• First study to address the three-stage flexible job shop scheduling problem with assembly and AGV transportation (FJSP-T-A) with the objective of minimizing makespan. • Development of a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model that provides optimal solutions for small-scale instances and serves as a benchmark for evaluating heuristic methods. • Proposal of a novel co-evolutionary algorithm (NCEA) incorporating a restart operation and multiple crossover strategies to effectively solve large-scale FJSP-T-A instances. • Statistical validation of the proposed algorithm's superiority over existing methods through RPI analysis and paired t-tests at the 95% confidence level.