A number of optimization problems that arise when rationalizing the warehouse logistics of a continuously cast slab yard of a metallurgical enterprise operate with a variable-length vector of parameters of the objective function. This circumstance, consequently, restricts the choice of methods applicable to such problems. Moreover, an increase in the parameter vector of the objective function in many cases raises the resource intensity of the optimization algorithm. Several existing methods that reduce the parameter vector of the objective function to a constant size and that find use in combinatorial optimization suffer from a pronounced limitation: they apply only to a highly specialized class of problems. The present study aims to reduce the parameter vector of the objective function that appears in problems of optimizing the work of bridge cranes in a slab yard to a constant size. Such a reduction will allow one to use, for the optimization problem under consideration, all known optimization methods from the appropriate class and, in addition, will lower the resource intensity of the optimization algorithm by decreasing the number of parameters of the objective function. In this work, the authors propose a method that generalizes L‑systems and cellular coding and makes it possible, for a given objective function, to move from a variable‑size parameter vector to a constant‑size parameter vector. The novelty of the work consists in extending ideas that are specific to highly specialized fields of scientific knowledge to a set of classes of optimization problems, in particular to scheduling problems for bridge cranes. The authors examine an objective function that arises when one jointly solves bridge crane scheduling problems and the problem of selecting slabs for a hot rolling schedule. They apply the proposed method to this objective function and describe the functions that change the search space in the form of simple algorithms. As a result, the dimensionality of the objective function vectors decreases at least by a factor of 10. The proposed method can be used in the design of a digital twin for a continuous casting billet storage yard, as well as for managing a hierarchy of commands: from the simplest (for controlling individual crane components) to the most complex (defining logistics operations involving slabs).
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