IX.

SCHEDULING/SEQUENCING

A. DEFINITION OF SCHEDULING AND SEQUENCING

SCHEDULING
It is the process of planning, coordinating, and controlling the sequence of events and activities
within a production process. The timing and coordination of operations.

Scheduling is an important tool for manufacturing and services industries where it can have
major impact to productivity of a process. The purpose of scheduling in manufacturing is to minimize
the production time and cost, by telling a production facility what to make, when, with which staff, and
on which equipment to be use. Similarly, scheduling in services, such as airlines and public
transportation, aim to maximize the efficiency of the operation and reduced cost.

Modern computerized scheduling tools greatly outperform older manual scheduling methods.
This provides the production scheduler with powerful graphical interfaces which can be used to visually
optimize real-time work loads in various stages of the production, and pattern recognition allows the
software to automatically create scheduling opportunities which might not be apparent without this view
into the data.

Two Types of Scheduling

Companies use backward and forward scheduling to plan human and material resources:
1. Backward Scheduling. It is planning the tasks from due date to determine the start date and/or
any changes in capacity required.
2. Forward Scheduling. It is planning the tasks from the start date to determine the shipping date
or the due date.

Benefits of Scheduling
Scheduling. Establishing the timing of the use of equipment, facilities and human activities in an
organization
1. Effective scheduling can yield
2. Cost savings
3. Increases productivity

The benefits of production scheduling include:

1. Process change-over reduction
2. Inventory reduction, leveling
3. Reduced scheduling effort
4. Increased production efficiency
5. Labor load leveling
6. Accurate delivery date quotes
7. Real time information

Scheduling Manufacturing Operations

a) High-Volume System - it is characterized by standard equipment and activities that provide
identical or highly similar operations on products.
 b) Intermediate-Volume System - it is an output fall between standardize type of output of the
high-volume systems and made -to-order output of job shops.
c) Low-Volume System - a products that are made to order, and orders usually differ considerably
in terms of processing requirements, materials needed, processing time, and processing sequence
and setups.

Scheduling Methods and Techniques

Gantt Chart – used as a visual aid for loading and scheduling.
Loading – how to distribute the workload among work centers
Sequencing – what job processing sequence to be use.
Types of Gantt Chart
a) Load Chart
b) Schedule Chart
Control Chart – it is used to study how a process changes over time.
Type of Control Chart
a) Input/Output Control Chart

SEQUENCING
Sequencing: It is the process of determining in which jobs at a work center will be processed.
Workstation: An area where one person works, usually with special equipment, on a specialized job.
Job time: Time needed for setup and processing of a job.

B. PRIORITY SCHEDULING RULES.

Priority scheduling rules are used in operations management to determine the order in which
tasks should be processed based on their priority. Some common priority scheduling rules include:
1. FCFS – First Come, First Served: Jobs are processed in the order which they arrive at machine
or work center.
2. SPT – Shortest Processing Time: Jobs are processed according to processing time at a machine
or work center, shortest job first.
3. DD – Due Date: Jobs are processed according to due date, earliest due date first.
4. CR – Critical Ratio: Jobs are processed according to smallest ratio of time remaining until due
date to processing time remaining. Formula: Critical Ratio = Time until due date / Processing
time
5. S/O – Slack per operation: Jobs are processed according to average slack time (time until due
date minus remaining time to process). Compute by dividing slack time number of remaining
operations including the current one.
6. Rush Emergency: Emergency or Preferred Customers First.

C. ASSUMPTIONS TO PRIORITY RULES

Priority rules make several key assumptions:
1. The set of jobs is known
o no new jobs arrive after processing begins
o no jobs are cancelled
2. Setup time is deterministic.
3. Processing time are deterministic rather than variables.
4. There will be no interruptions in processing such as machine breakdowns, accident or worker
illness.