A single machine on-time-in-full scheduling problem

A relevant feature in many production contexts is flexibility. This becomes a key issue, for instance, in the case of third-party cosmetics manufacturing [1]. There, the core business is the production of high quality, fully custom orders in limited batches. Competition is pushing companies to aggressive commercial policies, involving tight delivery dates. At the same time, the custom nature of the orders makes it impossible to keep materials in stock; lead times are always uncertain, often making release dates tight as well, and ultimately yielding unexpected peaks of production loads.