Scheduling around a small common due date (Q1183621)

The single machine scheduling problem with prohibited interruptions is considered. Job \(J_ i\) has a given processing time \(p_ i\), weight \(w_ i\) and (common to all jobs) deadline \(d<\sum^ n_{i=1} p_ i\), \(n\) denoting the number of jobs. The aim is to find such a schedule \(S\) minimizing the weighted sum of deviations of completion times of jobs from the due date \(f(S)=\sum^ n_{i=1} w_ i| C_ i-d|\), where \(C_ i\) is the completion time of the job \(J_ i\) in the schedule \(S\). A pseudo-polynomial algorithm is proposed; it requires \(O(n^ 2 d)\) time and \(O(nd)\) space. The NP-hardness of the problem is established for the case \(w_ i=w\), \(i=1,2,\dots,n\). Two polynomial solvable cases are presented: \(p_ i=p\) and \(p_ i=w_ i\) (in both cases there is no the restriction \(d<\sum^ n_{i=1} p_ i\)).