Task scheduling and assignment methods for cloud enterprises

In the frame of Cloud Manufacturing, Cloud Enterprise interoperability represents a key role in the organization, and management of the tasks required for manufacturing the products ordered. Indeed, Cloud Enterprises need to interoperate with their Associated Phyical Providers in order to negotiate their availability for performing the tasks required, to assign and schedule these. The current paper proposes new methods for scheduling and assigning the tasks aiming at manufacturing the products ordered while dealing with the large-scale demand, service and resource clusters faced in Cloud Manufacturing. The discussed methods focus on mid-term scheduling, batch manufacturing, and includes new optimization algorithms based on continuous-time modeling and Constraint Programing for scheduling the necessary tasks, assigning these to Associated Physical Providers, and managing the renewable and non-renewable manufacturing resource allocation while considering the lowest setup and linear costs of all the Associated Physical Providers.