Dynamic Flexible Job Shop Scheduling via an Adaptive Genetic Algorithm and Deep Learning

To address the scheduling problem of dynamic flexible job shop, this study proposes a hybrid scheduling method that integrates an adaptive genetic algorithm, dynamic target smoothing, and a deep Q-network (DQN). The scheduling process is formulated as a Markov decision process, where a graph convolutional network (GCN) extracts feature representations from evolving job and machine states. The adaptive genetic algorithm dynamically generates target values, while the dynamic target smoothing mechanism—based on sliding windows or exponential smoothing—further stabilizes target updates and enhances training efficiency. Experiments on the Brandimarte benchmark with stochastic job arrivals show that the proposed method reduces makespan by up to 2.1% compared to the QNGA baseline. In addition, the integration of adaptive evolution and smoothed target learning provides more stable training and stronger adaptability to dynamic environments than the existing DQN-based approaches.