Flow Shop Scheduling Problems, or FSPs, are a class of scheduling

Scheduling (production processes)

Scheduling is an important tool for manufacturing and engineering, where it can have a major impact on the productivity of a process. In manufacturing, the purpose of scheduling is to minimize the production time and costs, by telling a production facility when to make, with which staff, and on...

 problems with a work shop or group shop in which the flow control

Flow control

In data communications, flow control is the process of managing the pacing of data transmission between two nodes to prevent a fast sender from outrunning a slow receiver. It provides a mechanism for the receiver to control the transmission speed, so that the receiving node is not overwhelmed with...

 shall enable an appropriate sequencing for each job and for processing on a set of machine

Machine

A machine manages power to accomplish a task, examples include, a mechanical system, a computing system, an electronic system, and a molecular machine. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work...

s or with other resource

Resource

A resource is a source or supply from which benefit is produced, typically of limited availability.Resource may also refer to:* Resource , substances or objects required by a biological organism for normal maintenance, growth, and reproduction...

s 1,2,...,m in compliance with given processing orders. Especially the maintaining of a continuous flow

Flow

-Relating to the movement of material:* Fluid dynamics, or fluid flow, the motion of a gas or liquid* Environmental flow, the amount of water necessary in a watercourse to maintain a healthy ecosystem* Flow chemistry, a chemical reaction run in a continuous stream...

 of processing tasks is desired with a minimum of idle time and a minimum of waiting time. FSP may apply as well to production

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...

 facilities as to computing

Computing

Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...

 designs.

A special type of FSPs is the Permutation Flow Shop Scheduling Problem, or PFSP, in which the processing order of the jobs on the resources is the same for each subsequent step of processing.