CHAPTER NINE

SCHEDULING

9.1 Concepts of scheduling

Now you can understand the concept of scheduling. Scheduling is the processes of determining
the starting and completion times to jobs. It is the determination of when labor, equipment and
facilities are needed to produce a product or provide a service. Scheduling is a time table for:
performing activities, using resources, or allocating facilities. Generally, a schedule specifies the
timing and sequence of production. Schedule must be realistic; that is they must be capable of
being achieved within the capacity limitations of the manufacturing facilities. Scheduling should
be clearly differentiated from aggregate planning. The purpose of scheduling is to ensure that
available capacity is efficiently and effectively used to achieve the organization’s objectives. The
purpose of aggregate planning is to determine the resources (labor, equipment, space etc.) that
should be acquired for scheduling. Often several jobs might be processed at one or more work
stations. Typically a variety of tasks can be performed at each work station which make effective
scheduling a must rather than an alternative. Sequencing & loading should be considered during
scheduling activity.

Sequencing: sequencing is concerned with developing an exact order (or sequence) of job
processing. It is the determination of the order in which jobs are processed. One of the oldest
sequencing methods is the Gant chart. Gant chart is a bar chart that shows a job‟s progress
graphically or compares actual against planed performance.

Loading: is the assignment of work to specific resources/ machines. It is simply the process of
assigning work to individual workers or machine. Loading can be: finite loading, infinite
loading, back ward loading and forewarned loading.

 Finite loading: refers to loading activities with regard to capacity. Tasks are never loaded
beyond capacity.
 Infinite loading: loading activity without regard to capacity.
 Back ward loading begins with the due date for each job and loads the processing time
requirements against each work centre by proceeding back ward in time. The purpose of

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 back ward loading is to calculate the capacity required in each work centre for each time
period.
 Forewarned loading begins with the present date and loads jobs forwards in time. The
processing time is accumulated against each work centre, assuming infinite capacity. The
purpose of forewarned loading is to determine the approximate completion date of each
job and the capacity required in each time period.

9.2. Objectives of scheduling

The objectives of scheduling include minimizing: job lateness, response time, completion time,
overtime, idle time, work in process inventory, and maximizing machine and labor utilization.

Scheduling is common for manufacturing as well as service sectors.

9.3. Scheduling in manufacturing

Scheduling in manufacturing is the process of assigning priorities to manufacturing orders and

allocating workloads to a specific work centers. Scheduling is challenging if the task variety is
high. This is a case particularly for the job shop scheduling. In the following discussion, we will
concentrate on scheduling issues for job shop production.

9.3.1. Job shop scheduling

For job shop production scheduling decision can be quite complex. What makes Scheduling
sodifficult in a job shop is the variety of jobs (customer orders) that are processed, each
withdistinctive routing & processing requirement. In a pure job shop, there are several jobs to
beprocessed, each of which may have different routing among department or machines in the
shop.In designing a scheduling and control system for a high variety of activities, sequencing
andprioritizing should be emphasized.

9.3.2. Priority rules for allocating jobs to machine- sequencing

As discussed above, sequencing is prioritizing jobs that have been assigned to limited
resources.Sequencing is simple if work centers are lightly loaded and need the same processing
time. But ifwork centers are heavily loaded there will be longer waiting time and idle time. In
this case tominimize the waiting and idle time, we must prioritize the tasks by using priority
rules.Priority rules are the criteria by which the sequence of jobs is determined. The process

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ofdetermine which job is started first on a particular machine or work center is known as
prioritysequencing. Some of the more common priority rules for sequencing jobs are:

 First come, first serve (FCFS): orders are run in the order that they arrive in
thedepartment i.e. the oldest first rule.
 Shortest processing time (SPT): run the job with the shortest completion time first
i.e.shortest operating time first.
 Earliest due date first (due date): run the job with earliest due date first. Thus, a job thatis
due tomorrow has a higher priority than the job that is due next week or next month.
 Critical ratio (CR): this is calculated as the difference between the due date and
thecurrent date divided by the work remaining. Orders with the smallest CR are run
first.In the CR rule, jobs are sequenced from lowest CR to highest CR. Those with a CR
lessthan one are considered behind schedule and need to be expedited. And CR greater
thanone implies that the job is ahead schedule and can be de-expedite.

 Last come first serve (LCFS): this rule occurs frequently by default. As orders arrivethey
are placed on the top of the stack and the operator usually picks up the order on topto run
first.
 Random order – whim: the supervisors or the operators usually select which ever jobthey
feel like running.
 Queue ratio (QR): this is calculated as the slack time remaining in the schedule dividedby
the planned remaining queue time. Orders with the smallest QR are run first.
 Slack time remaining (STR): This is calculated as the difference between the
timesremaining before the due date minus the processing time remaining. Obviously,
jobwith negative slacks are behind schedule; those jobs might require expediting to
getcaught up. Under the minimum slack rule, jobs are sequenced based on their
slack:those with the most slack receive the lowest priority and those with the least
slackreceive the highest priority i.e. Orders with the shortest STR are run first.
 Slack time remaining per operation(STR/OP):

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9.4 Performance measures of job shop scheduling

From the operations manager’s perspectives, identifying performance measures to be used in

selecting a schedule is important. If the overall goals of the organizations are to be achieved the
schedule should reflect managerially acceptable performance measure. The following describes
the most common performance measure used in operation schedule.

Job flow time: refers to time a job spends in the shop. It is the sum of the moving time between
operations, waiting time for machines or work orders, process time (including set up), and delays
resulting from machine breakdowns, component unavailability and the like. The objective here is
to minimize the average flow time.

Flow time = waiting time + processing time

Average flow time = (sum of total flow time) (no of job processed)

Make span time: refers to time to process a set of jobs. It is the total amount of time required to
complete a group of job. The general objective is to minimize the make span time. (Generally,
make span time =processing time of each job)

Tardiness (past due): refers to the amount by which completion time exceeds the due date of a
job. If a job is completed before its due date, tardiness is zero. The objective is to minimize the
number of tardy jobs. Tardiness=  past due, & (Average tardiness = times past due total no.
of jobs)

Work in process inventory: any job in waiting line, moving from one operation to the next,
being delayed for some reason, being processed and the like are work in process. This measure
can be expressed in units, number of jobs, and birr value for the entire system and so on.
(Average WIP inventory =job flow timesmakes pan times)

Total inventory in the system: is the sum of the schedule receipt and on hand inventories.
(Average total inventory =  jobs in the systemmakes pan time)

Utilization = total processing time total flow time

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Average number of jobs in the system

9.5. Job shop scheduling techniques and priority rules.

There are a number of job scheduling techniques. However, we will take two most widely
practiced job scheduling techniques: scheduling „n‟ jobs – one machine problems and
scheduling „n‟ jobs on two machines.

i. scheduling n jobs on one machine(n/1cases).

Let us compare some of the priority rules in a static scheduling situation involving some jobs and
one machine. The theoretical difficulty of this type of problem increases as more machines are
considered.

Example 1Mesfin industrial engineering has engaged in assembling different model cars.
Assume five customers submitted their orders for different model of cars: the first customer
order model type A, the seconded model type B, the third model type C, the fourth for model
type D and the fifth order model type E. Further assume that all order requires the use of only
one machine which forces the company to decide on the processing sequence for the five orders.
The following is the time (in days) required to complete the job on in the machine.

Required: based on FCFS rule, determine makes pan time, total flow time, average flow time,
average tardiness (average job lateness), average WIP inventory, average total inventory,
utilization & no. of jobs in the system.

SolutionThe FCFS rule results in the following computation.

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 Make span time = 3+4+2+6+1= 16

Total flow time= 3+7+9+15+16=50

Average total flow time= 505 = 10 days

Average tardiness= 0+1+2+6+145 = 4.6 days

Average WIP inventory= 50 16 = 3.125

Average total inventory = (5+7+9+15+16) 16= 3.25

Utilization = 16  50 = 0.32= 32%

No. of jobs in the system = (3X5) + (4X4) + (2X3) + (6X2) + (1X1)  16 = 3.125

Example 2: ABC factory is engaged in gentle men garment business. The order receiving unit
has received the orders from its customers for coats, gowns, shirts, trousers, and jackets
respectively. There is only one job centre that all kinds of jobs are performed. The following is
the time (in days) required to complete the job in the work centre.

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Required:

i. Using CR priority rule, schedule the jobs.

ii. Evaluate the in terms of performance measure i.e. make span time, average day
early,average job lateness, average WIP inventory, average total inventory utilization
and no.of jobs in the system.

From the highest critical to lowest critical ratio, the job can be scheduled as: J, C, S, G, T in
theorder of 1 st , 2nd , 3rd , 4th , 5th respectively.

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Now , you can determine make span time, total flow time, average flow time, average
tardiness(average job lateness), average WIP inventory, average total inventory, utilization & no.
of jobsin the system as follows.

Make span time =6+7+5+2+3=23 days

Total flow time = 6+13+ 18+ 20+23= 80 days
Average flow time = 80 5 = 16 days
Average tardiness = (5+ 11+ 17+14) 5= 9.4 days
Average WIP inventory = 80 23= 3.478
Average inventory= (6+13+18+20+23) 23= 3.478
Utilization = 2380 0.2875= 28.75%
No. of jobs in the system= (6x5) + (7x4) + (5x3) + (2x2) + (3x1) 23= 3.478
Exercise : Based on the above data, determine make span time, total flow time, average
flowtime, average tardiness (average job lateness), average WIP inventory, average total
inventory,utilization & no. of jobs in the system using:

i. FCFS ii. LCFS iii. EDD, iv. SPT

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9.6. Scheduling in services

Scheduling is also important in service organizations. For example nurses must be scheduled
inhospital, and truck must be scheduled for deliveries for furniture distributors. One
importantdistinction between manufacturing and services that affects scheduling is that service
operationscannot create inventories to buffer demand uncertainties. A second distinction is that
in serviceoperations demand often is less predictable; customers may decide on the spur of the
momentthat they need a hamburger, a hair cut or a plumbing repair. Thus capacity, often in the
form ofemployees is crucial for service providers. In this section we discuss various ways in
whichschedule systems can facilitate the capacity management of service providers.

9.6.1. Scheduling customer demand

One way to manage capacity is to schedule customers for arrival times and definite periods
ofservice time. With this approach, capacity remains fixed and demand is leveled to
providetimely service and utilize capacity. Three methods are commonly used: appointment,
reservationand backlog.

Appointment: an appointment system assigns specific times for services to customers.

Theadvantages of this method are timely customer service and high utilization of servers.
Doctors,dentists, lawyers, and automobile repair shops are examples of service providers that
useappointment systems. Doctors can use the system to schedule parts of their days to visits
hospitalpatients and lawyers can set aside time to prepare cases. If timely service is to be
provided,however, care must be taken to tailor the length of appointment to individual customer
needsrather than merely scheduling customers at equal time interval.

Reservation: reservation system, although quite similar to appointment systems, are used
whenthe customer actually occupies or uses facilities associated with the service. For
example,customer reserve hotel rooms, automobiles, airline seats, and concert seats. The major
advantageof reservation system is the lead time they give service managers to plan the efficient
use offacilities. Often, reservation requires require some form of down payment to reduce the
problemof no-shows.

Backlog: a less precise way to schedule customers is to allow backlogs to develop; that is
customers never know exactly when service will commence. They present service request to an

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order taker, who adds it to the waiting line of orders already in the system. TV repair shops,
restaurants, banks, grocery stores, and barber shops are examples of the many types of business
that uses this system. Various priority rules can be used to determine which order to process
next. The usual rule is first come, first served, but if the order involves rework on a previous
order, it may get a higher priority.

9.6.2. Scheduling the worker:

Another way to manage capacity with a schedule system is to specify the on duty and off
dutyperiods for each employee over a certain time period as in assigning postal clerks, nurses,
pilots,attendants, or police officers to specific work days and shifts. This approach is used
whencustomers demand quick response and total demand can be forecasted with reasonable
accuracy.In this instant capacity is adjusted to meet the expected loads on the service system.
The workforce capacity available each day must meet or exceed daily work force requirements.
If it does not, the scheduler must try to rearrange days off until the requirements are met. If no
suchscheduling can be found, management might have to change the staffing plan and authorize
moreemployees, over time hours or large backlogs. Managers usually use rotating schedule than
fixed schedule to assign workers on their duty. In rotating schedule rotate employees through a
series of work days or hours. Thus, over a period of time, each person has the same opportunity
to have weekends and holidays off and to work days, as well as evening and nights. A rotating
schedule gives each employee the next employee’s schedule the following week. In contrast, a
fixed schedule calls for each employee to work the same days and hours each week.

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