Loading and Scheduling

Chapter VIII
Loading and Scheduling

Learning Objectives:
Reading this chapter would enable you to understand:
• Different types of loading and scheduling
• Advantages of loading and scheduling
• Units of loading and scheduling

Contents
8.1 Introduction: Why Scheduling?
8.2 Inputs of Scheduling
8.3 Loading and Scheduling Devices
8.4 Gantt Charts
8.5 Techniques of Scheduling
Summing Up
Self-assessment

8.1 Introduction: Why Scheduling?

Every order whether it is from a customer or from the assembly benches

must be completed on or before the contracted date (i.e. promised). To ensure
that the delivery date is met, each component entering the assembly should
be mode available on time. Scheduling function of PPC makes it possible by
determining starting and completion data of each of the operations listed on
the process sheet. Scheduling is the process of fitting a shop order into the
uncommitted time available for a machine or a group of machines required
for the manufacture of the item and within the total time which is no greater
than the promised delivery period.

Scheduling has yet another objective to fulfil to confirm or revise the tentative
delivery date promised in the original quotation. At times while scheduling a
work order, it is discovered that delivery date originally and tentatively
promised cannot be met. This may be due to materials not being available
immediately or due to increased plant loading while the customer was deciding
whether or not to award the quoted job to this company. Determination of
the realistic delivery date can only be made after detailed and firm scheduling.

Scheduling is not as simple as it appears to be from the foregoing paragraph.

The scheduling must
1. Ensure maximum utilisation of the plant at minimum cost.
2. Ensure that requirements of manpower is optimum and is evenly
distributed, there being no peaks and valleys.
3. Keep itself abreast of hiring, dismissals, retrenchment, holidays, leaves
etc. of the work force.
4. Possess up-to-date information regarding availability of material,
expected delivery dates, materials rejection, shortages, purchase orders
cancelled etc.

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5. Possess up-to-date data on each machine regarding its breakdown,

availability of spares, average frequency of breakdowns, servicing and
overhauling schedules, replacement schedules, etc.
6. Possess complete information on performance standards and their
revisions, method improvement, changes in materials and machines
etc.
7. Obtain quick feed back from shops regarding delays and interruptions
which may hold up production activity.

8.2 Inputs of Scheduling

The following are the major inputs of the scheduling function:

(a) Performance standard is the first and the foremost requirement of good
scheduling. Performance standards enable the scheduler to determine
the machine capacity in order to assign required machine hours and
man-hours for the various operations. Good scheduling is always
possible if the time study or industrial engineering department exists
in the plant. The performance standards for repetitive jobs in such plants
are available and for new jobs they can be estimated from tables of
synthetic standards prepared by the department.

Should this not be the case, the approximate time estimates can be
prepared by breaking the task into elements and then estimating time
for each manual and machine element. Simple arithmetic formulae may
be made use of to compute time for each of the machine elements
considering tool travel, speed, feed per revolution, number of cuts, etc.

Again if this is not possible the scheduler can make use of past records
of the same or similar jobs.

And even if it is not there, particularly in jobbing production units, cost

estimates prepared for the purpose of quotations can be obtained from
the sales department to be used as basis of scheduling.

And if neither time study department exists nor historical data is

available, the scheduler can consult concerned production supervisors
to obtain tune estimates.

(b) Unit of measurement refers to the unit in which the loading and
scheduling is to be extended. This unit of measurement is usually
different for different industries. Industries such as sugar, cement,
fertilizers, foundries, steel mill etc. generally use weight (kg/ton) as a
unit of measurement while in textile mills; it is in length (meters). The
most common unit of measurement in engineering firms is “man-hours’’
or “machine-hours”.

(c) Unit of loading and scheduling refers to the duration for which loading
and scheduling should be done. The unit of loading and scheduling -
scheduled start and finishing timings - depends on the company’s
scheduling needs and the operating cycles. This implies that scheduling
should be done on daily basis if the company makes promises in days
and it should be done on daily or weekly basis if promises are
made in weeks.

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(d) Effective capacity per work centre implies effective hours available for
production on a machine or on a work centre in a week, or in a month.
Theoretical capacity equals number of normal working hours of that
machine. Usually there are Interruptions. A few examples of these
interruptions are Power failure
• Preventive maintenance
• Waiting for inspection
• Operators engaged in other than production activities (functions
or celebrations)
• Machine engaged for technical studies
• Tool tryouts, jigs and fixture tryouts.
• Operator left work place for official discussion
• Machine breakdown electrical or mechanical)
• Waiting for transport.
• Operator absence
• Tool breakage
• Defective materials (hard material requiring reduced speeds and
feeds) or materials of incorrect specification (e.g. excess stock
removal).
• Operator training time.
• Rework
• Late start and early close.
• Overtime or incentive payment collection
• Operatives trade test.

On account or the above mentioned interruptions, the job (s) is (are)

sure to fall behind schedule unless the influence of these interruptions
is taken into account.

To arrive at realistic machine capacity, the theoretical capacity is

multiplied by utilisation Index. The industrial engineering department
of the company can supply PPC department with such indices from
their work sampling studies. In the absence of such information, the
scheduler usually assumes utilisation of 75% or 80% or a similar figure
when preparing job - schedules. This is not at all a correct approach.
Work-sampling studies conducted by the Industrial Engineering
department usually provide rational figures of utilisation index over
arbitrarily selected figures.

The effective capacity of a work centre is calculated as under:

(i) Calculate theoretical capacity per period. Theoretical capacity is
obtained by multiplying number of machines by normal hours
available per machine per period.
(ii) Establish utilisation Index after allowing time for delays and
interruptions which can not be avoided even by scientific production
planning and control.
(iii) Calculate net available capacity per period by multiplying theoretical
capacity by the average utilisation index.

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(iv) Establish average labour efficiency against performance standards.

(v) Calculate effective capacity per period by multiplying net capacity
per period by the average labour efficiency.

Case Study

ABC Company specialises in the manufacture of gears. It has 10 gear

hobbing machines in their gear shop. A work sampling study was
conducted to determine the percentage time lost due to various causes.
The study revealed that around 25% time was lost due to reasons
attributable to management.

Industrial engineering department of the company has established

standard time for all the machines. Daily section-wise efficiency reports
prepared to the Industrial Engineering department reveals that operators
give around 80% of the standard output Calculate effective capacity for
scheduling.

Solution

Available hours/week = No of machines x days/

weeks x hours/day
= 10 x 6 x 16
= 960
Utilisation index = 1 – (% time lost due to delays
and interruptions)
= 1 - 0.25 = 0.75
Net capacity available = Theoretical capacity x utilisation index
Net capacity = 60 (0.75) = 720
Shop efficiency against = 80% performance standards
Effective capacity available = 720 x 0.80 for loading and scheduling 576

The machine loading should be based on the effective capacity of 576

hours and not on the theoretical available capacity of 960 bouts.

(e) Extent of rush orders: Provision of rush orders is another important

consideration in scheduling. No machine should be scheduled for its
cent percent (100%) effective capacity because if a rush order comes in,
scheduling has to be changed to allow rush order to be put through the
shops. Such rush orders if received frequently, are bound to put the
company’s scheduling out of gear.

The disturbance due to rush orders can be avoided by not scheduling

the machine for 100% effective capacity thereby leaving some un-
committed capacity per period per machine. This un-committed capacity
is utilised to accommodate rush orders and thereby avoiding the need
to alter the remainder of the scheduling.

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Time needed for rush orders depends on the frequency of rush orders.
Each firm should work out its own average time spent on processing
rush orders.

There are different methods of accommodating rush orders

(i) The easiest method is to leave sonic capacity (depending upon the
average time spent on rush orders per period) unscheduled on
each machine per period. This method is useful when semi-
centralised system of scheduling is adopted.
(ii) Another method of scheduling of rush orders is to leave sonic un-
scheduled capacity between two scheduled jobs. This method is
useful when centralised system of scheduling is followed. If no—
rush—order is received, the unscheduled capacity may be utilised
for the new jobs or for early completion of the jobs previously
scheduled.

(f) Over lapping of operations is yet another useful consideration in

scheduling. Over lapping of operations refers to running of a job
simultaneously on more than one machine and it occurs in jobs which
involve two or more operations. Overlapping of operations helps to
reduce the manufacturing cycle time and hence the delivery period to
the customer.

(g) Loading charts: Rarely a company manufacturers one or few jobs at a

times. They manufacture a number of jobs simultaneously. It is therefore,
essential to know machine wise/work centre wise work load on hand
and this is precisely the purpose of load charts. A load chart specifies
the work to be carried out in each section or the department of the
company during the period under review.

Load charts are necessary to know the accumulated load at a given

time for a given machine and to identify periods available for allocation
in future to orders needing this machine. The failure to identify this
undoubtedly will lead to broken promises, foreman shouting at the top
of the voice when delivery date rolls round or entire section working on
overtime etc. The correct fitting of the orders considerably lessens
foreman’s burden of control.

The preparation of load chart is a typical exercise which requires to be

done in a big way only once i.e. while introducing the PPC system for
the first time. Afterwards, it becomes a routine activity being limited to
mere periodical updating and posting of load of new jobs.

To prepare a load chart, attention required to be paid to

(i) Jobs on the machines as well jobs on hand.
(ii) Delivery commitments of jobs on hand.
(iii) Ef fective capacities of the various machines/ sections/
departments.
(iv) Average (anticipated) sickness, absenteeism.
(v) Machines under servicing/overhauling/reconditioning
(vi) Holidays during the period under review.

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The easiest way to prepare a load chart is to complete “work centre

wise load”. This is done as under:
(i) One card for each type of machine is prepared.
(ii) Effective capacity is calculated per machine and the group of similar
machines.
(iii) The jobs to be performed are transferred one by one keeping job
priority, delivery date and operation sequence of the job in view.
(iv) The total load per machine is calculated and is compared with
available effective capacity.
(v) Once all the jobs on band have been loaded to match available
effective capacity, load charts are updated.

The cases of overloading are dealt with as under:

(a) Sub-contracting
(b) Alternative routing and utilising machines which are under utilised
(c) Job split-ups.
(d) Hiring capacity
(e) Overtime working etc.

8.3 Loading and Scheduling Devices

There are different loading and scheduling devices on which it is possible to

indicate when different operations in a job should begin and end. When the
jobs are completed:
(i) In one operation, the scheduling device may be in the form of a sheet or
a card for each machine.
(ii) In more than one operations, but in a fixed sequence of operations, the
scheduling device still can be in the form of a sheet or card for each
machine
(iii) In different operations on various machines in var ying operation
sequences, the scheduling device should consist of:
(i) A separate sheet or a hoard for each job which should give at a glance
the scheduling of various operations involved in a job and the starting
and the completion time for each of the operations. Such a chart is
called work schedule.
(ii) Another board which should show different tasks against different work
centres or departments. Such a board or chart is called load chart.

The principle tool used in scheduling and loading is the Gantt Chart.

8.4 Gantt Charts

Gantt Chart, developed by an American engineer Henry L. Gantt, is a very

useful aid in loading and scheduling, dispatching and progressing. The chart
is normally drawn on a printed or ruled sheet. Alternatively, it may be drawn
on a ruled board.

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The chart consists of a simple grid formed by a series of horizontal and vertical
lines. The vertical lines divide horizontal lines into small squares representing
units of measurement which may be days, weeks or months. The horizontal
lines divide vertical lines into sections which are used to represent either
operations (job schedule) or to represent work centres (load chart).

Operation Plan MON TUES WED THUR FRI SAT SUN

OP. OPN. DESCRIPTION
NO.
10 BLANK
20 DRILL THROUGH
30 C’SUNK BOTH SIDES
40 C’LESS GRIND
50 THREAD ROLL
60 INSPECT
70
80
90

Figure 10.1 A typical job schedule based on principles of Gantt chart

Plant MON TUES WED THUR FRI SAT SUN

M/C. M/C. DESCRIPTION
NO.
101 TRAUB A-60
102 TRAUB A-60
207 CAPSTAN LATHE
208 CAPSTAN LATHE
315 PILLAR DRILL
616 MILLING HEAD
415 C’LESS GRINDER
918 THREAD ROLL
508 INSPECT

Figure 10.2 A typical job schedule based on principles of Gantt chart

As mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the chart may be drawn to show

ata glance the scheduling of various operations involved in a job or it may be
drawn to show work ahead of each machine or work centre with respect to
time i.e. in days or weeks.

The former is known as the job schedule (Fig. 10.1) while the later is called
load chart (Fig. 10.2)

Symbols used

The symbols used on the chart vary from company to company. The following
are more commonly used (Fig. 10.3)

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SYMBOLS DESCRIPTION
Time when work started
Time when work completed
Time required for scheduled production
Setup time
Actual production or progress of work shown by thick
line between the legs
(1080) Identification symbol written in brackets
Y Date of updating of the chart

Symbols used in Gantt Chart

Variations in Gantt Chart

To prepare load charts, the Gantt Chart in the industry has been used with
lot of variations. One of the methods is to indicate the load by numerals.
(Fig. 10.4)

The load chart in Figure 10.4 indicates that there are eight capstan lathes, each
having a capacity of 94.5 hours per week (total work centre capacity of 94, 5 x 8
= 756 hours per week). The chart shows machine loading for different weeks.

Another form of load chart is the one that utilises the graphical approach (Fig.
10.5). The amount of work assigned in a particular week is indicated by suitable
line against the machine on which it is intended to be processed. Thin lines are
used to represent load on individual days while heavy lines are used to represent
cumulative work load. The period of loading is split up into percentage for
clarity. Figure 10.5 shows a typical master load chart based on this concept.

Besides Gantt Chart, there are many other types of scheduling devices which
are in vogue in the industry, Some firms make use of sliding tapes, sonic use
strings, others use pegs in board, and still others use track boards. The
scheduling devices may differ but the principles underlying them are same.
Once the readers grasp these principles, it is not difficult to adopt any one of
the above mentioned devices.

MASTER LOAD CHART YEAR : 1981

Section : Blanking
Sr. Equipment Type No.of Shifts/ Effective WEEKS
No. M/cs. Day capacity/
Week @
70%
utilisation
1 2 3 4 5 6 51 52
1. Capstan Herbert 8 3 756 756 756 756 756 200 300
Lathe # 4D
2. Centre Madras 2 3 189 189 189 189 189 160 75
Lathe GD-1
21. Milling B.F.W. 2 2 135 135 135 80 130 120 30
Machines

Week of updating of Chart

Master load chart based on numerical concept

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 Loading and Scheduling

MASTER LOAD CHAR T YEAR : 1981

Section : Blanking
Sr. Equipment Type No.of Shifts/ Ef fective WEEKS
No. M/cs. Day capacity/
Week @
70%
utilisation
1 2 3 4 5 6 51 52
1. Capstan Herbert 8 3 756
Lathe # 4D
2. Centre Madras 2 3 189
Lathe GD-1
21. Milling B.F.W. 2 2 135
Machines

Week of updating of Chart

Master load chart based on graphical concept

8.5 Techniques of Scheduling

The following techniques are useful for scheduling

(i) Johnson’s two machine algorithm is a useful concept in scheduling when
the operation sequence involves two machines and the processing time
depends on the sequence in which the jobs are loaded. The effectiveness
of the technique is further increased when the company has a backlog
of orders. It is though possible to select the best sequence by testing
each of available alternative sequences but the time required for such
an analysis is considerable. This is because even if the sequence of
operation is fixed, the total number of possible alternative sequences
will be large (n!) where ii is the number of jobs requiring to be processed.
Johnson’s two machine algorithm provides a simple time saving device
to decide on the optimal job sequence.
(ii) Index Method’ is a technique that can be effectively utilised for the purpose
of loading and the allocation of different jobs to different machines.
Normally orders are assigned to the best machine till it is loaded to its
full capacity, remaining orders to the next best machine and so on, more
or less on the principle of “first come first assigned”. This method,
however, does not result in optimum loading. A better method of machine
loading, especially when there are sufficient orders and reasonable choice
of machines, is to assign orders to the machines on the basis of relative
effectiveness of the machines.
Index method is a very simple technique which provides considerable
improvement over the conventional methods of loading.
(iii) Critical Path Analysis is another useful technique to determine the
schedule of the activities of projects. Gantt charts are used extensively
to plan, schedule and control many business activities but they, however,
have serious limitations for the one off complex projects. A Gantt chart
does not:
(a) Reveal inter-relationships between different activities of the project.
(b) Reflect the uncer tainty or tolerances in the durations (time)
estimated for various activities.

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Critical path analysis which overcomes these deficiencies of the Gantt

chart is used for scheduling large projects where the relationships
between different activities of the project are more complicated titan a
production job requiring a simple chain of activities to be completed
one after another. CPA can be used to schedule the activities of simple
projects like overhauling of a machine, purchase and installation of a
new machine, construction of a small shed. And at the other extreme
end, it can be used for large complicated projects like design, production
and testing of prototype of an aircraft requiring co-ordination, scheduling
and control of activities of many different specialist teams, sub-contractor
and purchasing agents.
(iv) Critical ratio scheduling is a technique for establishing and maintaining
priorities among the jobs in a factory. The technique utilises the concept
of ratios - called critical ratios - which set the time relationship between
when a product is required and when it can be made available (i.e.
supplied). Critical ratio technique also finds its application in expediting
function of PPC.

Summing Up

Scheduling is the process of assigning calendar dates to the various operations

of a job. Major inputs to scheduling are performance standards, effective
capacity percentile, extent of rush orders, overlapping of operations, loading
charts etc. A principal tool used in scheduling activity is the Gantt chart.

Self-assessment

1. What is scheduling? Why is it required? What factors should be

considered in scheduling?

2. Discuss the effect of following on scheduling

a) Machine loading
b) Rush orders
c) Job priority
d) Effective capacity of the equipment

3. What are load charts? Why are they required? How are they prepared
and used in scheduling of work in [‘PC department?

4. What is Gantt chart? How is it constructed? To what uses it can be put

in the company’s PPC department?

5. ABC company is engaged in the manufacture of precision flamed

components. The orders rescheduled in the order in which they are
received. The operations involved in the components are being carried
on lathes, drill machine;, and milling machines. The company has 2
lathes, 2 drill machines, and 3 milling machines. The order on had
together with rime estimates for different operations are given in the
table below. Assuming 6 hours as effective working of an 8 hour shift a
day, rind our in how many days the company will be able to effect the
deliveries of different orders.

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Order LatheTime DrillingTame Milling Time

Tame in hours
A 12 30 18
B 30 18 12
C 24 12 30
D 30 18 6

a) Prepare a load and schedule chart for the orders on hand,

b) The company has received a fresh order which is expected to take
24 horn on lathes, 30 hours on drilling machines, and 18 hours on
milling machine, When can this order be completed? How will the
load ad schedule chart look like after scheduling of this order?

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