Facility maintenance scheduling for organisations with a multi-location structure: optimisation model and hybrid metaheuristic approach

In comparison to centralised organisations with a single location structure, multi-location organisations face more challenges in the management of maintenance scheduling. In this paper, we present a new mathematical model to solve the maintenance scheduling problem for a multi-location facility, then we develop a hybrid metaheuristic algorithm combining the genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimisations (PSO) mechanisms, called GA-PSO. Employing the introduced model and the proposed solution approach, any multi-location organisation may be able to determine the best or near to optimal maintenance scheduling. The proposed model considers different work skills required for the maintenance scheduling and also the possibility of outsourcing the maintenance tasks. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed model and algorithm, numerical analysis is employed. Numerical experiments indicate the accuracy and computational efficiency of the proposed solution approach.