Lot streaming with detached setups in three-machine flow shops

Lot streaming is the process of splitting a job or lot to allow overlapping between successive operations in a multistage production system. This use of transfer lots usually results in a shorter makespan for the corresponding schedule. In this paper, we study the structural properties of schedules which minimize the makespan for a single job with detached setup times in a flow shop. Although the structure of the optimal schedules is more complex than in the case with no setups [9], it is possible to find the optimal solution with s sublets in O(log s) time for the three-machine case.