A heuristic for cyclic stochastic sequencing of tasks on a drum-like storage system

Abstract Stochastic cyclic sequencing of tasks in auxiliary drum-like storage systems is a frequently encountered problem. It occurs in automated storage and retrieval systems, tool magazines of machining centers, turret lathes, and multi-spindle drill presses. In this paper we model the problem as a quadratic assignment problem and introduce heuristic procedures for sequencing these types of systems. Numerical results show that the developed heuristic procedures yield satisfactory estimates for the optimal solution.