Session 12-13

Short-Term Scheduling
 Short-Term Scheduling

short-term scheduling is defined as drawing up schedules giving detailed times for

jobs, people, materials, equipment and any other resources utilized in the process.
The objectives would be to allocate and prioritize to available facilities demand generated
either by forecasts or customer orders

The strategic importance of scheduling is clear:

◆Internally effective scheduling means faster movement of goods and services through a
facility and greater use of assets.

◆ Externally good scheduling provides faster throughput, added flexibility, and more
dependable delivery, improving customer service
 Scheduling Issues
Scheduling decisions range from years, for capacity planning, to minutes/hours/ days, called
short-term scheduling.
Scheduling Decisions

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The Relationship Between Capacity Planning, Aggregate Planning, Master Schedule, and
Short-Term Scheduling
Three factors are pervasive in scheduling:

(1) generating the schedule forward or backward,

(2) finite and infinite loading, and

(3) the criteria (priorities) for sequencing jobs. We discuss these

topics next.
 Forward and Backward Scheduling

Forward scheduling is used in organizations such as hospitals, clinics, restaurants, and machine tool
manufacturers. In these facilities, jobs are performed to customer order, and delivery is typically scheduled
at the earliest possible date.
 Finite and Infinite Loading
Loading: The assigning of jobs to work or processing centers.
 Scheduling Criteria

1. Minimize completion time: Evaluated by determining the average completion time.

2. Maximize utilization: Evaluated by determining the percent of the time the facility is
utilized.

3. Minimize work-in-process (WIP) inventory: Evaluated by determining the average

number of jobs in the system. The relationship between the number of jobs in the system
and WIP inventory will be high. Therefore, the fewer the number of jobs that are in the
system,the lower the inventory.

4. Minimize customer waiting time: Evaluated by determining the average number of late
periods (e.g., days or hours).
 Loading Jobs

First, we examine loading from the perspective of capacity via a technique known as input–output control.
Then, we present two approaches used for loading: Gantt charts and the assignment method of linear
programming

Input–Output Control
Many firms have difficulty scheduling (that is, achieving effective throughput) because they overload the
production processes. This often occurs because they do not know actual performance in the work centers.

Input–output control is a technique that allows operations personnel to manage facility work flows. If the work is
arriving faster than it is being processed, the facility is overloaded, and a backlog develops. Overloading
causes crowding in the facility, leading to inefficiencies and quality problems. If the work is arriving at a
slower rate than jobs are being performed, the facility is underloaded, and the work center may run out of
work. Underloading the facility results in idle capacity and wasted resource.

Throughput time refers to the total amount of time that it takes to run a particular process in its entirety from start to
finish. For example, a manufacturer can measure how long it takes to produce a product, from initial customer order to
sourcing raw materials to manufacturing to sale
 Assignment Method
The assignment method involves assigning tasks or jobs to resources. Examples
include assigning jobs to machines, contracts to bidders, people to projects, and
salespeople to territories. The objective is most often to minimize total costs or
time required to perform the tasks at hand. One important characteristic of
assignment problems is that only one job (or worker) is assigned to one machine
(or project).
 Example: Hungarian Method
• Determine the optimum assignment of jobs to workers for the following
data:
Worker
A B C D
1 8 6 2 4
2 6 7 11 10
Job
3 3 5 7 6
4 5 10 12 9

16-13
Example: Hungarian Method
(contd.)
Worker
Row
A B C D minimum

1 8 6 2 4 2 Subtract the smallest number in

each row from every number in
2 6 7 11 10 6 the row
Job
3 3 5 7 6 3
4 5 10 12 9 5

Worker
A B C D
1 6 4 0 2
2 0 1 5 4
Job
3 0 2 4 3
4 0 5 7 4

16-14
Example: Hungarian Method
(contd.)
Worker
A B C D
1 6 4 0 2 Subtract the smallest number in
2 0 1 5 4 each column from every number
Job in the column
3 0 2 4 3
4 0 5 7 4
Column min. 0 1 0 2

Worker
A B C D
1 6 3 0 0
2 0 0 5 2
Job
3 0 1 4 1
4 0 4 7 2
16-15
Example: Hungarian Method
(contd.)
Worker
A B C D
1 6 3 0 0 Determine the minimum number
of lines needed to cross out all
2 0 0 5 2 zeros. (Try to cross out as many
Job
3 0 1 4 1 zeros as possible when drawing
4 0 4 7 2 lines

Since only three lines are needed to cross out all zeros and the
table has four rows, this is not the optimum. Note: the
smallest uncovered value is 1

16-16
Example: Hungarian Method
(contd.)
Worker
A B C D
1 6 3 0 0 Subtract the smallest uncovered
value from every uncovered
2 0 0 5 2 number, and add it to the values
Job
3 0 1 4 1 at the intersection of covering
4 0 4 7 2 lines.

Worker
A B C D
1 7 3 0 0
2 1 0 5 2
Job
3 0 0 3 0
4 0 3 6 1
16-17
Example: Hungarian Method
(contd.)
Worker
A B C D
1 7 3 0 0 Determine the minimum number
of lines needed to cross out all
2 1 0 5 2
Job zeros. (Try to cross out as many
3 0 0 3 0 zeros as possible when drawing
4 0 3 6 1 lines

Since four lines are needed to cross out all zeros and the table
has four rows, this an optimal assignment can be made

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Example: Hungarian Method
Worker
A B C D
1 7 3 0 0 Make assignments: Start with
rows and columns with only one
2 1 0 5 2
Job zero. Match jobs with workers
3 0 0 3 0 that have a zero
4 0 3 6 1

Assignment Cost
2-B $7
4-A $5
1-C $2
3-D $6
Total $20
16-19
 Sequencing Jobs

Once jobs are loaded in a work center, as we just discussed, managers decide the
sequence in which they are to be completed. Sequencing (often called dispatching ) is
accomplished by specifying the priority rules to use to release (dispatch) jobs to each
work center.

Priority Rules for Sequencing Jobs

The most popular priority rules are:
◆ FCFS: first come, first served . Jobs are completed in the order they arrived.

◆ SPT: shortest processing time . Jobs with the shortest processing times are assigned first.

◆ EDD: earliest due date . Earliest due date jobs are assigned first.

◆ LPT: longest processing time . Jobs with the longest processing time are assigned first.
Performance Criteria The choice of which priority rule to choose depends in part on how
each rule performs on four criteria: the priority rules try to minimize completion time,
maximize facility utilization, minimize number of jobs in the system , and minimize
job lateness . These performance criteria incorporate the concept of flow time , which
measures the time each job spends waiting plus time being processed.
 PRIORITY RULES FOR DISPATCHING

Five architectural rendering jobs are waiting to be assigned at Avanti Sethi

Architects. Their work (processing) times and due dates are given in the following
table. The firm wants to determine the sequence of processing according to (1)
FCFS, (2) SPT, (3) EDD, and (4) LPT rules. Jobs were assigned a letter in the order
they arrived. Today is day 1, and work begins today.
 Critical Ratio

For organizations that have due dates (such as manufacturers and many firms like
your local printer and furniture re-upholsterer), the critical ratio for sequencing jobs
is beneficial. The critical ratio (CR) is an index number computed by dividing the time
remaining until due date by the work time remaining.

In most production scheduling systems, the critical-ratio rule can help do the following:
1. Determine the status of a specific job.
2. Establish relative priority among jobs on a common basis.
3. Adjust priorities (and revise schedules) automatically for changes in both demand and job
progress.
4. Dynamically track job progress.
 Today is day 25 on Zyco Medical Testing Laboratories’ production schedule. Three
jobs are on order,as indicated here:

The critical ratio gives priority to jobs that must be done to keep shipping on schedule. A
job with a low critical ratio (less than 1.0) is one that is falling behind schedule. If CR is
exactly 1.0, the job is on schedule. A CR greater than 1.0 means the job is ahead of
schedule and has some slack.
 Sequencing N Jobs on Two Machines: Johnson’s Rule

Johnson’s rule
An approach that minimizes the total time for sequencing a group of jobs through two
work centers while minimizing total idle time in the work centers.

Johnson’s rule involves four steps:

1. All jobs are to be listed, and the time that each requires on a machine is to be shown.

2. Select the job with the shortest activity time. If the shortest time lies with the first
machine,
the job is scheduled first. If the shortest time lies with the second machine, schedule the job
last. Ties in activity times can be broken arbitrarily.

3. Once a job is scheduled, eliminate it.

 Example

Five specialty jobs at a La Crosse, Wisconsin, tool and die shop must be processed
through two work centers (drill press and lathe). The time for processing each job
follows:

The owner, Niranjan Pati, wants to set the sequence to minimize his total
time for the five jobs.
Thus, the five jobs are completed in 35 hours.
An optimal solution to this problem can be obtained if either or
both of the following conditions hold good: 1. The minimum
processing time on machine A is at least as great as the
maximum processing time on machine B, that is, mint1j ≥ maxt2j
, for j = 1,2,··· ,n. 2.

The minimum processing time on machine C is at least as great

as the maximum processing time on machine B, that is, mint3j ≥
maxt2j , for j = 1,2,··· ,n. If either or both the above conditions
hold good, then the algorithm can be summarized in the
following steps
 Scheduling Service Employees with Cyclical Scheduling

• A number of techniques and algorithms exist for scheduling service-sector

employees when staffing needs vary.

• This is typically the case for police officers, nurses, restaurant staff, tellers, and retail
sales clerks. Managers, trying to set a timely and efficient schedule that keeps
personnel happy, can spend substantial time each month developing employee
schedules.

• Such schedules often consider a fairly long planning period (say, 6 weeks).

• One approach that is workable yet simple is cyclical scheduling .

LP examples
• A post office requires different numbers of full-time employees on
different days of the week. The number of full-time employees
required on each day is given in the table. Union rules state that each
full-time employee must work five consecutive days and then receive
two days off. The post office wants to meet its daily requirements
using only full-time employees. Formulate an LP that the post office
can use to minimize the number of full-time employees that must be
hired.