Short-Term Scheduling

Short Term Scheduling

The objective of scheduling is to allocate and prioritize demand (generated by either forecasts or
customer orders) to available facilities

Effective and efficient scheduling can be a competitive advantage

• Faster movement of goods through a facility means better use of assets and
lower costs
• Additional capacity resulting from faster throughput improves customer service
through faster delivery
• Good schedules result in more dependable deliveries
Scheduling Issues

Scheduling deals with the timing of operations

The task is the allocation and prioritization of demand
Significant factors are
1) Forward or backward scheduling
2) Finite or infinite loading
3) The criteria for sequencing jobs
Forward and Backward Scheduling

• Forward scheduling starts as soon as the requirements are known

• Produces a feasible schedule though it may not meet due dates

• Frequently results in
buildup of work-in-
process inventory

Due
Now Date
Forward and Backward Scheduling
• Backward scheduling begins with the due date and schedules the
final operation first
• Schedule is produced by working backwards though the processes

• Resources may not

be available to
accomplish the
schedule

Due
Often these approaches are combined to develop a Now Date
trade-off between capacity constraints and customer
expectations
Finite and Infinite Loading
Assigning jobs to workstations
Finite loading assigns work up to the capacity of the
workstation
• All work gets done
• Due dates may be pushed out
Infinite loading does not consider capacity
• All due dates are met
• Capacities may have to be adjusted
Scheduling Criteria

• Minimize completion time

• Maximize utilization of facilities
• Minimize work-in-process (WIP) inventory
• Minimize customer waiting time
Load Charts : Gantt Charts
• Load chart shows the loading and idle times of departments,
machines, or facilities
• Displays relative workloads over time
• Schedule chart monitors jobs in process
• All Gantt charts need to be updated frequently to account for
changes
Load Charts : Gantt Charts
Work Day
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Center

Metalworks Job 349 Job 350

Mechanical Job 349 Job 408

Electronics Job 408 Job 349

Painting Job 295 Job 408 Job 349

Processing Unscheduled Center not available

Sequencing Jobs
Specifies the order in which jobs should be performed
at work centers
Priority rules are used to dispatch or sequence jobs
• FCFS: First come, first served
• SPT: Shortest processing time
• EDD: Earliest due date
• LPT: Longest processing time
Performance Criteria
• Flow time – the time between the release of a job to a
work center until the job is finished
Sum of total flow time
Average completion time =
Number of jobs
Total job work (processing) time
Utilization metric =
Sum of total flow time

Average number of Sum of total flow time

=
jobs in the system Total job work (processing) time

Total late days

Average job lateness =
Number of jobs
Performance
Performance Criteria Criteria
Flow time – the time between the release of a job to a work
center until the job is finished

Job lateness = Max{0, yesterday + flow time – due date}

Sequencing Example
Apply the four popular sequencing rules to these five jobs

Job Work Job Due

Job (Processing) Time Date
(Days) (Days)
A 6 8
B 2 6
C 8 18
D 3 15
E 9 23
Sequencing Example
FCFS: Sequence A-B-C-D-E

Job Work Flow Job Due Job

Job Sequence (Processing) Time Time Date Lateness
A 6 6 8 0
B 2 8 6 2
C 8 16 18 0
D 3 19 15 4
E 9 28 23 5
28 77 11
Sequencing Example
FCFS: Sequence A-B-C-D-E

Sum of total flow time

Average completion time = = 77/5 = 15.4 days
Number of jobs

Total job work (processing) time

Utilization metric = Sum of total flow time = 28/77 = 36.4%

Average number of Sum of total flow time

jobs in the system = Total job work time
= 77/28 = 2.75 jobs

Total late days

Average job lateness = Number of jobs = 11/5 = 2.2 days
Sequencing Example
SPT: Sequence B-D-A-C-E

Job Work Flow Job Due Job

Job Sequence (Processing) Time Time Date Lateness
B 2 2 6 0
D 3 5 15 0
A 6 11 8 3
C 8 19 18 1
E 9 28 23 5
28 65 9
Sequencing Example
SPT: Sequence B-D-A-C-E

Sum of total flow time

Average completion time = = 65/5 = 13 days
Number of jobs

Total job work time

Utilization metric = Sum of total flow time = 28/65 = 43.1%

Average number of Sum of total flow time

jobs in the system = = 65/28 = 2.32 jobs
Total job work time

Total late days

Average job lateness = Number of jobs = 9/5 = 1.8 days
Sequencing Example
EDD: Sequence B-A-D-C-E

Job Work Flow Job Due Job

Job Sequence (Processing) Time Time Date Lateness
B 2 2 6 0
A 6 8 8 0
D 3 11 15 0
C 8 19 18 1
E 9 28 23 5
28 68 6
Sequencing Example
EDD: Sequence B-A-D-C-E

Sum of total flow time

Average completion time = = 68/5 = 13.6 days
Number of jobs

Total job work time

Utilization metric = Sum of total flow time = 28/68 = 41.2%

Average number of Sum of total flow time

jobs in the system = = 68/28 = 2.43 jobs
Total job work time

Total late days

Average job lateness = Number of jobs
= 6/5 = 1.2 days
Sequencing Example
LPT: Sequence E-C-A-D-B

Job Work Flow Job Due Job

Job Sequence (Processing) Time Time Date Lateness
E 9 9 23 0
C 8 17 18 0
A 6 23 8 15
D 3 26 15 11
B 2 28 6 22
28 103 48
Sequencing Example
LPT: Sequence E-C-A-D-B

Sum of total flow time

Average completion time = = 103/5 = 20.6 days
Number of jobs

Total job work time

Utilization metric = Sum of total flow time = 28/103 = 27.2%

Average number of Sum of total flow time

jobs in the system = = 103/28 = 3.68 jobs
Total job work time

Total late days

Average job lateness = Number of jobs = 48/5 = 9.6 days
Sequencing Example
Summary of Rules

Average
Average Number of Average
Completion Utilization Jobs in Lateness
Rule Time (Days) Metric (%) System (Days)
FCFS 15.4 36.4 2.75 2.2

SPT 13.0 43.1 2.32 1.8

EDD 13.6 41.2 2.43 1.2

LPT 20.6 27.2 3.68 9.6

Comparison of Sequencing Rules
Summary of Rules

Average
Average Number of Average
Completion Utilization Jobs in Lateness
Rule Time (Days) Metric (%) System (Days)
FCFS 15.4 36.4 2.75 2.2

SPT 13.0 43.1 2.32 1.8

EDD 13.6 41.2 2.43 1.2

LPT 20.6 27.2 3.68 9.6

Comparison of Sequencing Rules
• No one sequencing rule excels on all criteria
1. SPT does well on minimizing flow time and number of jobs in
the system
▶ But SPT moves long jobs to the end which may result in dissatisfied
customers

2. FCFS does not do especially

well (or poorly) on any
criteria but is perceived
as fair by customers
3. EDD minimizes maximum
lateness
Critical Ratio (CR)
• An index number found by dividing the time remaining
until the due date by the work time remaining on the job
• Jobs with low critical ratios are scheduled ahead of jobs
with higher critical ratios
• Performs well on average job lateness criteria

Time remaining Due date – Today's date

CR = =
Workdays remaining Work (lead) time remaining
Critical Ratio (CR) Example
Currently Day 25

JOB DUE DATE WORKDAYS REMAINING

A 30 4
B 28 5
C 27 2

JOB CRITICAL RATIO PRIORITY ORDER

A (30 - 25)/4 = 1.25 3
B (28 - 25)/5 = .60 1
C (27 - 25)/2 = 1.00 2

With CR < 1, Job B is late. Job C is just on schedule and Job A has
some slack time.
Critical Ratio (CR) Technique

• Determine the status of a specific job

• Establish relative priorities among jobs on a common basis
• Adjust priorities automatically for changes in both demand
and job progress
• Dynamically track job progress
Sequencing N Jobs on Two
Machines: Johnson's Rule
• Works with two or more jobs that pass through the same two
machines or work centers
• Minimizes total production time and idle time
• An N/2 problem, N number of jobs through 2 workstations
Johnson’s Rule
• List all jobs and times for each work center
• Select the job with the shortest activity time. If that time is
in the first work center, schedule the job first. If it is in the
second work center, schedule the job last. Break ties
arbitrarily.
• Once a job is scheduled, it is eliminated from the list
• Repeat steps 2 and 3 working toward the center of the
sequence
Johnson’s Rule
Johnson’s Rule Example
Example

WORK CENTER 1 WORK CENTER

JOB (DRILL PRESS) 2 (LATHE)
A 5 2
B 3 6
C 8 4
D 10 7
E 7 12
Johnson’s Rule Example

WORK CENTER 1 WORK CENTER

JOB (DRILL PRESS) 2 (LATHE)
A 5 2
B 3 6
C 8 4 B E D C A
D 10 7
E 7 12
Johnson’s Rule
Johnson’s Rule Example
Example
WORK CENTER 1 WORK CENTER
JOB (DRILL PRESS) 2 (LATHE)
A 5 2
B 3 6
C 8 4 B E D C A
D 10 7
E 7 12

Time 0 3 10 20 28 33

WC
1 B E D C A
Idle
WC
2
Job
completed
Johnson’s Rule
Johnson’s Rule Example
Example
WORK CENTER 1 WORK CENTER
JOB (DRILL PRESS) 2 (LATHE)
A 5 2
B 3 6
C 8 4 B E D C A
D 10 7
E 7 12

Time 0 3 10 20 28 33

WC
1 B E D C A
Idle
WC
2 B E D C A
Job
Timeè 0 1 3 5 7 9 10 11 12 13 17 19 21 22 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 completed

B E D C A