The job sequencing and tool switching problem: state-of-the-art literature review, classification, and trends

The job sequencing and tool switching problem is a combinatorial optimisation problem that appears in various industries, mainly in the manufacturing sector. Although tool switching is only part of a much larger decision-making process in manufacturing systems, it has a major impact on the overall performance of the system by affecting the total set-up time as well as the machine and tool utilisation. Over the past few decades, various approaches have been applied to tool switching problems. This study provides a comprehensive review of the literature on the job sequencing and tool switching problem. Studies are identified and compared through a structured literature review and classified according to a new framework which allows the identification of problem perspectives and solution methods. The results show that current research does not fully exploit real-world situations and studies are often limited to a single-machine and uniform tool size and set-up time. Finally, this literature review summarises the current research results and provides directions for future research.