Operations Management

Session No. 19 and 20

Session Coverage Operations Scheduling
Infinite Loading, Finite Loading, Forward Scheduling, Backward
Scheduling, Assignment, Job Sequencing, Priority Rules,
Scheduling n Jobs on One Machine, Scheduling n Jobs on Two
Machines, Johnson's Rule, Gantt Charts, Numerical Exercises
Learning When you complete this chapter you should be able to:
Objectives Explain the relationship between short-term scheduling,
capacity planning, aggregate planning, and a master schedule
Draw Gantt loading and scheduling chart
Apply the assignment method for loading jobs
Name and describe each of the priority sequencing rules
Essential reading Scheduling in service systems
prior to the class Reeja, Marath K., and Chandrasekharan Rajendran.
"Dispatching rules for scheduling in assembly jobshops - Part
1." International Journal of Production Research 38.9 (2000):
2051-2066. Business Source Elite. EBSCO. Web. 9 Aug. 2011.
Essential activity Consider yourself the manager of a hospital that must operate 24-
prior to the class hour days, and where the physical demands are such that 8-hour
days are preferable to 10- or 12-hour days.
Your empowered employees have decided that they want to work
weekly by rotating their shifts. That is, they want a repeating work
cycle of 1 week, 7 A.M. to 3 P.M., followed by a second week from
3 P.M. to 11 P.M., and the third week from 11 P.M. to 7 A.M. You
are sure this is not a good idea in terms of both productivity and the
long-term health of the employees. If you do not accept their
decision, you undermine the work empowerment program, generate
a morale issue, and perhaps, more significantly, generate demand
for a union. What is the ethical position and what do you do?
Important points Last and most constrained decision in the capacity planning
and concepts hierarchy
Results in a time-phased plan
Time frame ranges from a few hours to a few months
Has conflicting objectives
High efficiency
Low inventories
Good customer service

Scheduling of flights - Airlines start their tactical planning with schedule generation where
they construct the probable legs of each flight. A leg is a route from a specific origin point to
a destination. ..with a given departure time. Flying times are calibrated in each of a myriad
number of flights. While constructing these very complex routes and structures, based on
hubs and spokes, plus the usual non-stop long haul flights, schedulers use mathematical
algorithms and software to figure out where to assign crews, a complicated procedure.
Schedulers have to be aware that pilots can be on duty only for a specific period of time due
to fatigue issues...but also to abide with Federal Air Regulations

Scheduling OM 2017, Dr. R. Jagadeesh. Page 1 of 5

 JOB SHOP (BATCH PRODUCTION) SCHEDULING

Scheduling refers to the execution of detailed material plans.

The primary objective is managing the material flow to meet MPS and MRP plans.

In general, task scheduling depends for the most part on the volume of the system output.

Master Production
Scheduling
Low to Moderate Volume High Volume Systems
Systems Production Production Planning
Planning

Material Requirements Just-In-Time

Planning Scheduling

Production Activity Purchasing

(Shop Floor) Control

Scheduling in high volume systems (product-focused, make-to-stock) initially entails two

basic decisions: (1) how to allocate tasks to specific work centers and, (2) how to determine
the sequence in which operations are to be performed at each work center (assembly line
balancing). Subsequently, after the design considerations, then scheduling is typically
accomplished by two practices: (1) level rate of output and, (2) holding the mixture of goods
produced constant.
Scheduling in batch (intermittent) processing systems (low and intermediate volume
systems) also entails two basic decisions: (1) batch or run size determination and, (2) the
sequence for processing batches.

Sequencing in job shops involves the timing of specific operations and tasks. It is a short-
term planning process which has a dramatic impact on: production costs, capacity
utilization, meeting customer delivery (promise) dates, work-in-process inventory, shop
congestion, etc.

A job shop is defined as a functional organization whose departments or work centers are
organized around particular types of equipment or operations, such as drilling, forging,
spinning, or assembly.

Products flow through departments in batches corresponding to individual orders, which

may be either stock orders (orders prepared for inventory) or customer orders.

Typical characteristics of job shop include products being made to order and customer
orders having differing: processing requirements, material requirements, processing times,
processing sequences, set-up times and costs.

Scheduling OM 2017, Dr. R. Jagadeesh. Page 2 of 5

 These differing requirements lead to trade-offs among utilization, order delays, inventory
levels, process times, set-up costs, etc.

In addition, scheduling difficulty is enhanced because processing schedules can not be

determined until actual orders are received. For example, given n tasks without any
precedence relationships leads to n! different possible sequences.

Task scheduling in job shops actually involves seven basic activities, including:

1. Due-date setting - a negotiation process with the customer

2. Authorization to release orders to the shop floor
3. Loading - assigning jobs to work centers, a problem that arises when two or more work
centers may process a job
4. Routing - assigning jobs to machines within work centers
5. Sequencing priority decisions regarding the order in which jobs in the wait queue will
be processed
6. Vendor scheduling
7. Monitoring performance using tools such as Input/Output analysis

Solutions to the sequencing problem depends upon the size of the problem: (1) single
machine (work center) or one-stage problem, (2) 2-machine (work centers) or two-stage
problem, or (3) an m-machine (work centers) problem

Generally heuristic rules will be applied to determine a solution as we can not use complete
enumeration to evaluate all potential solutions. Example: n jobs, n! sequences

n = 2, 2 sequences possible
n= 4 24 sequences possible
n = 8, 40,320 sequences possible
13
n = 16, 2.0923x10 sequences possible

Heuristic rules are used for establishing the priority of jobs in the work center queue. There
are numerous heuristics available.

A. Heuristic Sequencing Rules

1. First-Come, First-Serve (FCFS) - the job which arrives first, enters service first (local
rule).

Advantages: simple, fast, fair to the customer.

Disadvantages: generally the least effective as measured by traditional performance

measures as a long job makes others wait resulting in idle downstream resources and it
ignores job due date and work remaining (downstream information).

2. Shortest Processing Time (SPT) - the job which has the smallest operation time, enters
service first (local rule).

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 Advantages: simple, fast, generally a superior rule in terms of minimizing completion
time through the system, minimizing the average number of jobs in the system, usually
lower in-process inventories (less shop congestion) and downstream idle time (higher
resource utilization), and usually lower average job tardiness.

Disadvantages: ignores downstream, due date information, and long jobs wait (high job
wait-time variance).

3. Earliest Due Date (EDD) - the job which has the nearest due date, enters service first
(local rule).

Advantages: simple, fast, generally performs well with regards to due date, but if not, it
is because the rule does not consider the job process time.

Disadvantages: high priority of past due job and it ignores work content remaining.

4. Critical Ratio (CR) Rule - sequences jobs by the time remaining until due date divided
by the total remaining processing time (global rule). The job with the smallest ratio of
due date to processing time enters service first. The ratio is formed as

(Due Date-Present Time)/Remaining Shop Time

where remaining shop time refers to: queue, set-up, run, wait, and move times at current
and downstream work centers.

Advantages: recognizes job due date and work remaining (incorporates downstream
information)

Disadvantage: past due jobs have high priority, does not consider the number of
remaining operations

5. Slack Per Operation - is a global rule, where job priority determined as:

(Slack/# of Remaining Operations)

Advantages: recognizes job due date and work remaining (incorporates downstream
information)

Disadvantage: past due jobs have high priority

6. Least Changeover Cost (Next Best rule) - sequences jobs by set-up cost or time (local
rule).

Advantages: simple, fast, generally performs well with regards to set-up costs.

Disadvantages: does not consider the job process time, due date and work remaining.

Additional useful shop floor planning and control tool: Gantt Chart, graphical aid useful
for loading and scheduling work. Chart developed by Henry Gantt in early 1900s.

Scheduling OM 2017, Dr. R. Jagadeesh. Page 4 of 5

B. Performance Measures

1. Total completion time (make span)

2. Average flow time (average time spent in the shop): (Flow Times)/Number of Jobs

3. Average number of jobs in the system: (Flow Times)/(Process Times)

4. Average job lateness (tardiness): (Days Late)/Number of Jobs

5. Changeover cost

6. Common Shop Floor Performance Measures

a. Work-in-Process Inventory: orders that have been released but not yet finished
b. Throughput: the total volume of output from a process
c. Utilization: percentage of time that resources are busy
d. Make span

C. Two-Stage Problems: Johnsons Rule

An optimal sequencing rule for jobs which follow a two-step process. This rule will
minimize the completion time (make span) of the last job through the second operation.
In other words, it minimizes idle time.

It is an algorithm that builds a sequence from first and last sequence positions towards
middle positions. Procedure:

1. Considering both operation times of all jobs, select the smallest operation time from
the list.
If this time occurs in step (work center) 1, assign this job to the first available position
in the sequence. If this time occurs in step (work center) 2, assign this job to the last
available position in the sequence. Eliminate job from further consideration.
2. Select the job with the next smallest operation time and proceed as before.
Continue this process working from the ends of the sequence towards the middle
position until all of the jobs have been allocated a position in the sequence.

Rule Conditions:
1. same sequence at both operations
2. operation times known and constant
3. operation times (which include set-up times) must be independent of sequence
4. No lot splitting and cannot use in conjunction with other priorities

Ties? 1. multiple optimal solutions, 2. break ties arbitrarily or use an intelligent tie-
breaking strategy.

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