*Result*: A discrete artificial bee colony algorithm for distributed hybrid flowshop scheduling problem with sequence-dependent setup times.

*With the development of global and decentralised economies, distributed production emerges in large manufacturing firms. A distributed production model exists with hybrid flowshops. As an extension of the hybrid flowshop scheduling problem (HFSP), the distributed hybrid flowshop scheduling problem (DHFSP) with sequence dependent setup times (SDST) is a new challenging project. The DHFSP involves three sub-problems: the first one is to allocate a factory for each job; the second one is to determine job sequence in each factory; the third one is to allocate a machine for each job at each stage. This paper presents a machine position-based mathematical model and a discrete artificial bee colony algorithm (DABC) for the DHFSP-SDST to optimise the makespan. The proposed DABC employs a two-level encoding to ensure an initiative scheduling. Decoding method combines with the earliest available machine and earliest completion time rule for feasible schedules. The proposed DABC also employ effective solutions update techniques: the hybrid neighbourhood operators, and many times of Critical Factory Swap to enhance exploitation. 780 benchmarks in total are generated. Extensive experiments are carried out to test the performance of the DABC. Computational results and statistical analyses validate that the DABC outperforms the best performing algorithm in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Production Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)*

*Full text is not displayed to guests* *Login for full access*