CHAPTER 18: SCHEDULING

 

Effective Production Control

 

Plan--->Develop production plans and schedules

 

Control-->Monitor

 

Control-->Revise as necessary to achieve conformance to plans and stay "on" schedule.

 

* An effective information system is essential to success.  (Computerized Information systems can be very helpful)

 

Scheduling--developing and assigning specific dates for the start and/or completion of the necessary work tasks.

 

Controlling production--collecting and analyzing the data necessary to evaluate the progress on jobs relative to plans, and initiating corrective measures as necessary.

 

Expediting--is the application of personal attention to improve progress on specific jobs.  (A corrective measure)

 

Routing--specifying the flow through work stations necessary to produce a product.

 

 

Job shop

variable

 

Batch Processing

semi-variable

 

Repetitive

fixed

 

Objectives of work center Scheduling:

            1.  Meet due dates

            2.  Minimize lead times

            3.  Minimize setup time and cost

            4.  Minimize work-in-process inventory

            5.  Maximize machine and labor utilization

 

Scheduling is a 2 stage process

 

1.  Loading

 

2.  Dispatching

 

Loading--assigns work to a work center but doesn't establish a sequence of jobs through that workcenter.

 

We use load reports to determine what capacity is available for use.

 

Dispatching--sequencing of the work through a work station.  (n--no. of jobs/1--no. machines)  Which job first, second,...       

* Use some decision rule to decide which of the n jobs at a machine goes first.

 

Select 1 of n jobs

 

then:  select 1 of n-1 jobs

 

then:  select 1 of n-2 jobs

 

Dispatching Rules:

 

1.  Johnsons Rule (2 or 3 work centers)

 

2.  FIFO

 

*    3.  SPT Shortest processing time (World Class DR)

 

4.  EDD Earliest Due Date

 

5.  LAS Least Average Slack

 

Johnsons Rule

 

1.  List processing time for each job.

 

2.  Select job with shortest time at either W.C.

 

3.  If shortest time is in 1st W.C.

            schedule ASAP

                 If shortest time is in 2nd W.C.

                        schedule ALAP

                 If tie: 

                       If diff. jobs

                            1st station ASAP

                            2nd station ALAP

            

                       If same job

                            schedule arbitrarily

 

4.  Remove job(s) from list and continue.

 

Job Shop Scheduling is quite complex.

 

Often an order is received for a product we have never built.  In such cases we must first design the product, develop specifications, B.O.M., estimates of labor costs, material costs, lead times, etc. to come up with a bid.  THESE ACTIVITIES MUST BE SCHEDULED ALSO.  Therefore there is a L.T. associated with work that must be done before production begins and there are costs associated with those activities.

 

Proposal from Customer

 

Design and Specifications

 

Estimating Procedure

 

Bid

 

Production

 

Delivery

* The success of a company depends on how well they can do not one but all of these things.

 

A company may use:

 

a.  BACKWARD scheduling--start with due date and back up as you schedule using lead times

 

b.  FORWARD scheduling--start with now and schedule forward by adding times for activities

 

 

Production Control in Batch Processing.

 

MRP System is very helpful in this environment because it is very helpful for planning and control.  It doesn't just schedule material orders and receipts==>it can schedule production activities.  Accurate info. is critical--must be timely also.

 

With scheduling done the focus shifts to Production Activity Control  2 Major components

 

1.   Input/Output Control=> Balancing workloads and capacity at work centers to prevent starvation & Queues (W.I.P.)

 

2.   Priority Control=> attempts to make sure that jobs worked     on are the ones that are most needed.

 

OBJ.

 

1.   Keep lead times predictable

 

2.   Utilize capacity efficiently

 

3.   Keep Queues to a minimum

 

 

Expediting (de-expediting):  necessary because in a job shop things don't always go as planned. (most of the time in the majority of job shops.)

 

There would not be many problems if orders of materials were received on time, the various work stations worked at a predictable rate all the time, nothing got scrapped, people were predictable, and capacity was adequate.  This is generally not the case and queues build up at some work stations and other work stations get starved.  Constant monitoring is necessary and problems must be uncovered and solutions developed => Shop Floor Control

 

We attempt to assure that priorities are met and it is a pretty much continuous job of expediting (making changes to hurry things along) and de-expediting (halting or slowing the progress of a job--maybe because a delay has caused part of assembly needed to not be available when needed.)

 

Priority systems such as the critical ratio.

 

CR = Due date - Today's date

          divided by

     Days required to complete job

 

< 1 late => maybe it gets 1st priority at W.S.

 

 

The nature of production control and scheduling is somewhat different for different types of manufacturing.

 

Job Shop---Batch Processing---Repetitive

 

JOB SHOP

* most complex

 

* deals with everything from design to delivery

 

* major issues:  bidding, scheduling, lead time, queues, bottlenecks

 

* keeping track of where everything is and at what stage of completion is a major challenge

 

* Q control is useful here-- computer based tool to maximize capacity use and minimize queues. 

 

O.P.T. can be useful.

 

BATCH PROCESSING

* Queues are a major issue--means that priority control is very important.  Bottlenecks also.

 

* We would like to keep queues as small as possible so that lead time is short and W.I.P. is low.

 

* MRP System can be helpful in this situation as can J.I.T. and O.P.T.

 

 

REPETITIVE

* Least complex

 

* The efficient design of products and processes is critical.

 

* In system design engineers and management make decisions that influence system efficiency (Line Balancing).  Balancing the flow is a major issue--the pace of the system influences the level of output.

 

* Output level is adjusted by cutting back on, or decreasing run time.

 

* MRP, JIT, OPT