The paper introduces PORL, a hybrid method that first trains a general scheduling policy through online reinforcement learning in simulation, then fine‑tunes it offline on production data using a KL‑divergence constraint to limit policy drift. PORL is evaluated on Job Shop Scheduling Problem instances with distribution shifts and various data sources, consistently outperforming standalone offline RL and other baselines, especially when offline data quality is low. The results suggest that offline adaptation of pretrained policies can improve industrial scheduling when direct online exploration is impractical.
By Mateo Toro Diz, Jonathan Hoss, Noah Klarmann
The paper introduces Variational Graph-to-Scheduler (VG2S), a framework that applies variational inference to the Job Shop Scheduling Problem (JSSP). By decoupling representation learning from policy optimization using a variational graph encoder and an ELBO-based objective, VG2S improves training stability and robustness to hyperparameter changes. Experiments show that VG2S outperforms state‑of‑the‑art deep reinforcement learning baselines and traditional dispatching rules, especially on large‑scale benchmark instances such as DMU and SWV.
By Seung Heon Oh, Jiwon Baek, Hyunjin Oh, Kiyoung Cho, Heechang Yoon, Jong Hun Woo
arXiv:2607. 11725v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Prefabricated prefinished volumetric construction moves most building work into module factories, whose production floor operates as a flexible job shop.
By Ziheng Zhang, Wei Zhang
arXiv:2607. 02941v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Multi-product kitting delivery imposes significant challenges for real-time scheduling in hybrid manufacturing systems that integrate processing and assembly, as dynamic order arrivals simultaneously alter supply dependencies and the set of feasible job-machine assignments.
By Junhao Qiu, Jianjun Liu, Ting Liu, Rongjie Liao, Zhantao Li, Qingfu Zhang
arXiv:2606. 13682v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: The open shop scheduling problem (OSSP) arises in many industrial and service settings but remains computationally challenging as the number of jobs and machines increases.
By Faezeh Ardali, Mwembezi A. Nyelele, Gerald M. Knapp
arXiv:2509. 10303v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Online reinforcement learning (RL) approaches have demonstrated strong performance on Job Shop Scheduling (JSP) and Flexible JSP (FJSP) problems by learning scheduling policies through direct interaction with simulated environments.
By Jesse van Remmerden, Zaharah Bukhsh, Yingqian Zhang
The paper introduces an integrated optimization framework that links automated warehouse operations with last‑mile multi‑modal transport for differentiated on‑demand delivery. It employs a deep reinforcement learning approach—MORM‑AGDQN for warehouse scheduling and MRMH‑HCVRP for external routing—to balance service level, cost, and demand. The results demonstrate significant performance gains, including a 100 % on‑time delivery rate, a 29.3 % reduction in average last‑mile delivery time, a 46.4 % cut in total transportation distance, and a high‑priority service rate exceeding 92 % while maintaining cost‑customer satisfaction balance.
By Xiaozhu Sun, Bilal Farooq
arXiv:2609.13739v1 Announce Type: cross
Abstract: Language-model agents are increasingly deployed through diverse harnesses that differ in system prompts, tool schemas, control loops, and trajectory...
By Hongliang Wei (Harbin Institute of Technology, Alibaba Cloud), Xiaobing Tu (Alibaba Cloud), Yinggui Wang (Alibaba Cloud), Zhengxi Liu (Alibaba Cloud), Rongkun Xue (Alibaba Cloud), Jinkui Ren (Alibaba Cloud), Xiantao Zhang (Alibaba Cloud), Debin Zhao (Harbin Institute of Technology), Xiaopeng Fan (Harbin Institute of Technology)
The paper introduces Hierarchical Reinforcement and Collective Learning (HRCL), a framework that combines multi‑agent reinforcement learning (MARL) with decentralized coordination. HRCL uses MARL at a high level to generate strategic guidance that limits the decision space for low‑level agents, enabling efficient short‑term coordination while considering long‑term effects. Experiments on synthetic, energy‑management, and drone‑swarm scenarios demonstrate faster convergence and significant reductions in system‑wide and individual costs compared to standalone MARL.
By Chuhao Qin, Evangelos Pournaras
arXiv:2608. 14122v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Production scheduling in complex manufacturing environments is challenging when sequence-dependent setup times, stochastic disturbances, and due-date constraints must be addressed simultaneously.
By Arne Kr\"oger, Ralf Buscherm\"ohle, Wilhelm Hasselbring, Henrik Wilbers
arXiv:2604. 23841v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Efficiently solving the Job Shop Scheduling Problem in real-world industrial applications requires policies that are both computationally lean and topologically robust.
By Jonathan Hoss, Moritz Link, Noah Klarmann
arXiv:2607. 19985v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Dynamic manufacturing environments require multi-agent systems to coordinate effectively under frequent operational disturbances such as machine failures, urgent job arrivals, and processing time variations.
By Chengxiao Dai, Zhanhui Lin, Zhaokun Yan, Youyang Ni, Chenjun Lei, Luyan Zhang