Module 7

Operation Scheduling
 What is Scheduling?
• Scheduling - specifies when labor, equipment,
facilities are needed to produce a product or
provide a service
• Last stage of planning before production occurs
• Loading – assignment of jobs to process
centers
• Sequencing – determining the order in which
jobs will be processed

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 Scheduled Operations
• Process Industry • Batch Production
– Linear programming – Aggregate planning
– EOQ with non-
instantaneous – Master scheduling
replenishment – Material requirements
• Mass Production planning (MRP)
– Assembly line balancing – Capacity requirements
• Project planning (CRP)
– Project -scheduling
techniques (PERT, CPM)

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 Objectives in Scheduling
• Minimize
Meet customer
overtimedue dates
• Minimize job
Maximize machine
lateness
or labor utilization
• Minimize idle
response
time time
• Minimize work-in-process
completion timeinventory
• Minimize time in the system

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 Scheduling Issues: Scheduling deals with the timing of
operations.
Organization Managers Schedule the Following

Hospital Operating room use, Patient admission, Nursing, security,

maintenance staffs, outpatient treatments etc

College Classrooms and audiovisual equipment, Student and instructor

schedules, Graduate and undergraduate courses

Manufacturer Production of goods, Purchase of materials, workers

Restaurant Chef, Waiters, Bartenders, Delivery of fresh foods entertainers,

Opening of dining areas

Air Lines Maintenance of aircraft, Departure timetables, Flight crews,

Catering, Gate and ticketing personnel
Types of Scheduling:
1. Forward Scheduling: Forward Scheduling is commonly
used in job shops where customers place their orders on
“needed as soon as possible” basis. Forward scheduling
determines start and finish times of next priority job by
assigning it the earliest available time slot and from that
time determines when the job will be finished in that
work center.
2. Backward scheduling: is often used in assembly type
industries and commit in advance to specific delivery dates. Background
scheduling determines the start and finish times for waiting jobs by assigning
them to the latest available time slot that will enable each job to be completed
just when it is due, but done before.
Scheduling Criteria: the correct scheduling
technique depends on the volume of orders, the nature of
operations, and the overall complexity of jobs, as well as
the importance placed on each of four criteria. These four
criteria are:
1. Minimize completion time: this criterion is evaluated
by determining the average completion time per job.
Average completion time

2. Maximize utilization: this is evaluated by determining

the percent of the time the facility is utilized.
Utilization
3. Minimize work in process (WIP) inventory: This
is evaluated by determining the average number of
jobs in the system. The relationship between the
number of jobs in the system an WIP inventory
will be high. Therefore, the fewer the number of
jobs that in the system, the lower the inventory.
Average number of jobs in the system

4. Minimize customer waiting time: This is evaluated

by determining the average number of late days.
Average job lateness
 Loading
Loading is the cumulative amount of work currently assigned to a
work center for future processing. There may be many work
centers in an organization. The main problem faced is the
assignment of jobs to work centers. After completion of MPS, the
product should be produced in due dates. MPS can create
imbalance loads. In order to manage and manipulate imbalance
workloads, two approaches can be use, they are:
1. Infinite loading: it is the process of assigning jobs to work
centers with out considering the work centers capacity
assuming that capacities are infinite. The following tools and
techniques can be used for evaluating current loading and the
assigning the loads:
– Gantt load Chart (sandeep shrestha page 315)
– Assignment algorithm ( column reduction, row reduction, cover the
zeros, create new zeros, make and assignment) 9
 Loading
• Process of assigning work to limited resources
• Perform work on most efficient resources
• Use assignment method of linear programming to
determine allocation

Gantt load chart: sometimes referred to as a bar

chart, showing both the amount of time involved and
the sequence I which activities can be performed. It is
a graph showing workloads of work centers on a time
scale. It specifies the workload in each work centers.

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Detailed scheduling:
• Scheduling for job shop type of production
• Scheduling for batch production
• Prepare individual “job schedules”
• Assign ‘start’ and ‘finish’ dates to each of the
operation on the job schedule
• Post load of each schedule into the load chart
• Setting delivery date for an item
• Scheduling for mass production
Expediting:
Expediting is the process of tracking the job
progress and taking special actions to move it
through the facility. If the progress of job is not
satisfactory, managers should expedite the jobs
paying special attentions.

Input/output control:
It is the process of controlling the actual and
planned capacity utilization of work centres.
Priorities sequencing/ Sequencing
Priority sequencing is the process of determining the job
that is to start first on machine or work center. It is also
known as job sequencing or assigning priorities.

Many different sequencing rules are available for selecting

and assigning jobs to work centers for implementation. In
order to select one rule, the following factors should be
considered
• Set up costs
• In process inventory cost
• Idle time
• Number or percent of jobs that are late
• Average time jobs are late
• Standard deviation of time jobs are late
• Average number of jobs waiting in the queue
• Average time to complete a job
• Standard deviation of time to complete a job.

The following are the most important priority sequencing rule in

manufacturing and service industries.
• FCFS - first-come, first-served
• LCFS - last come, first served
• EDD - earliest due date
• SLACK - smallest slack
• CR - critical ratio
• SPT - shortest processing time
• LPT - longest processing time
 Critical Ratio Rule

CR considers both time and work remaining

time remaining due date - today’s date
CR = work remaining= remaining processing time

If CR > 1, job ahead of schedule

If CR < 1, job behind schedule
If CR = 1, job on schedule

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Sequencing Jobs Through One Process

• Flowtime (completion time)

– Time for a job to flow through the system
• Makespan
– Time for a group of jobs to be completed
• Tardiness (Job lateness)
– Difference between a late job’s due date
and its completion time

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Simple Sequencing Rules
PROCESSING DUE
JOB TIME DATE

A 5 10
B 10 15
C 2 5
D 8 12
E 6 8

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 Simple Sequencing
Rules: FCFS
FCFS START PROCESSING COMPLETION DUE (Job lateness)
SEQUENCE TIME (Job Work)TIME (Flow)TIME DATE TARDINESS

A 0 5 5 10 0
B 5 10 15 15 0
C 15 2 17 5 12
D 17 8 25 12 13
E 25 6 31 8 23

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 Simple Sequencing Rules:
EDD

DDATE START PROCESSING COMPLETION DUE (Job lateness)

SEQUENCE TIME (Job Work)TIME (Flow)TIME DATE TARDINESS
C 0 2 2 5 0
E 2 6 8 8 0
A 8 5 13 10 3
D 13 8 21 12 9
B 21 10 31 15 16

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 Simple Sequencing Rules: A(10-0) – 5 = 5
SLACK B(15-0) - 10 = 5
C(5-0) – 2 = 3
D(12-0) – 8 = 4
E(8-0) – 6 = 2
SLACK START PROCESSING COMPLETION DUE (job lateness)
SEQUENCE TIME (job work)TIME (Flow)TIME DATE TARDINESS
E 0 6 6 8 0
C 6 2 8 5 3
D 8 8 16 12 4
A 16 5 21 10 11
B 21 10 31 15 16

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 A(10)/5 = 2.00
Simple Sequencing B(15)/10= 1.50
Rules: CR C (5)/2 = 2.50
D(12)/8 = 1.50
E (8)/6 = 1.33
CR START PROCESSING COMPLETION DUE (job lateness)
SEQUENCE TIME (job work)TIME (FLOW)TIME DATE TARDINESS
E 0 6 6 8 0
D 6 8 14 12 2
B 14 10 24 15 9
A 24 5 29 10 19
C 29 2 31 5 26

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 Simple Sequencing Rules:
SPT

SPT START PROCESSING COMPLETION DUE (Job lateness)

SEQUENCE TIME (Job Work)TIME (Flow )TIME DATE TARDINESS
C 0 2 2 5 0
A 2 5 7 10 0
E 7 6 13 8 5
D 13 8 21 12 9
B 21 10 31 15 16

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 Simple Sequencing Rules:
Summary

AVERAGE AVERAGE NO. OF MAXIMUM

RULE COMPLETION TIME TARDINESS JOBS TARDY TARDINESS
FCFS 18.60 9.6 3 23
EDD 15.00 5.6 3 16
SLACK 16.40 6.8 4 16
CR 20.80 11.2 4 26
SPT 14.80 6.0 3 16

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 Sequencing Jobs Through Two
Serial Process
Johnson’s Rule
1. List time required to process each job at each
machine. Set up a one-dimensional matrix to
represent desired sequence with # of slots equal
to # of jobs.
2. Select smallest processing time at either machine.
If that time is on machine 1, put the job as near
to beginning of sequence as possible.
3. If smallest time occurs on machine 2, put the job
as near to the end of the sequence as possible.
4. Remove job from list.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 until all slots in matrix are filled
and all jobs are sequenced.
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 Guidelines for Selecting a
Sequencing Rule

1. SPT most useful when shop is highly congested

2. Use SLACK for periods of normal activity
3. Use EDD when only small tardiness values can be
tolerated
4. Use LPT if subcontracting is anticipated
5. Use FCFS when operating at low-capacity levels
6. Do not use SPT to sequence jobs that have to be
assembled with other jobs at a later date
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 Monitoring
• Work package
– Shop paperwork that travels with a job
• Gantt Chart
– Shows both planned and completed activities against a
time scale
• Input/output Control
– Monitors the input and output from each work center

Theory of Constraints
• Not all resources are used evenly
• Concentrate on the” bottleneck” resource
• Synchronize flow through the bottleneck
• Use process and transfer batch sizes to move product through
facility
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