Contents

1. Production Activity Control: Scheduling.......................................................................................1

1.1. Introduction....................................................................................................................................1
1.2. Planning...........................................................................................................................................2
1.3. Implementation.............................................................................................................................2
1.4. Control..............................................................................................................................................2
1.5. Manufacturing Systems..............................................................................................................3
1.5.1. Flow manufacturing.............................................................................................................3
1.5.2. Intermittent manufacturing..............................................................................................4
1.5.3. Project manufacturing........................................................................................................5
1.6. Data Requirements......................................................................................................................5
1.7. Order Preparation.........................................................................................................................6
1.8. Objectives of Production Control............................................................................................6
1.9. Production Activity Control hierarchy functions................................................................7
1.10. Production Activity Control Process.....................................................................................9
1.11. Requirements of Production Control System.................................................................12
1.12. Levels of Production Control................................................................................................14
1.13. Factors Determining Production Control Operations...................................................14
1.14. Production activity control mechanisms..........................................................................15
1.14.1. Workload Control.............................................................................................................15
1.14.2. Generic Kanbans System..............................................................................................16
1.14.3. Drum-Buffer-Rope...........................................................................................................16
1.15. Advantages of Production Control.....................................................................................16
2. Scheduling.....................................................................................................................................18
2.1. Scheduling Techniques.............................................................................................................19
2.2. Schedule construction/update activity................................................................................20
2.2.1. Schedule construction/update inputs..........................................................................21
2.3. Approaches to scheduling........................................................................................................22
2.4. Scheduling Bottlenecks............................................................................................................24
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................................27

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 1. Production Activity Control: Scheduling

1.1. Introduction
The overall factory wide plan provided by the factory co-ordination level is
downloaded to individual work cells. These work cells then have their own
control system to coordinate the flow of work. Production Activity Control
(PAC) describes the principles and techniques used by management to plan in
the short term, control and evaluate the production activities of the
manufacturing organization.

 Production activity control (PAC) is responsible for executing the master

production schedule and the material requirements plan. At the same
time, it must make good use of labor and machines, minimize work-in-
process inventory, and maintain customer service.
 The material requirements plan authorizes PAC to release work orders
to the shop for manufacturing, to take control of work orders and make
sure they are completed on time, to be responsible for the immediate
detailed planning of the flow of orders through manufacturing, and to
manage day-to-day activity and provide the necessary support. The
activities of the PAC system can be classified into planning,
implementation, and control functions.
 The flow of work through each work center must be planned. PAC must
ensure that the required resources are available to manufacture the
components as needed and develop a load profile for each work center
to ensure the timely completion of orders by the scheduled date.
 Next we implement the plan. PAC will gather the information needed by
the shop floor to make the product and release orders to the shop floor
as authorized by the material requirements plan (dispatching).
 Monitor the process and determine the necessary corrective action.
PAC will rank the shop orders in desired priority sequence by work
center and establish a dispatch list, track actual performance to plan

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 and take corrective action by re-planning, rescheduling, or adjusting
capacity to meet delivery.
 Understand the characteristics and differences between flow,
intermittent and project manufacturing.

1.2. Planning
The flow of work through each of the work centers must be planned to meet
delivery dates, which means production activity control must do the following:

 Ensure that the required materials, tooling, personnel, and information

are available to manufacture the components when needed.
 Schedule start and completion dates for each shop order at each work
center so the scheduled completion date of the order can be met. This
will involve the planner in developing a load profile for the work centers.

1.3. Implementation
Once the plans are made, production activity control must put them into
action by advising the shop floor what must be done. Instructions can be given
by issuing a shop order with the relevant information, or by simply producing
a schedule that shows product information, quantities, and dates. Production
activity control will:

 Gather the information needed by the shop floor to make the product.
 Release orders to the shop floor as authorized by the material
requirements plan. This is called dispatching.

1.4. Control
Once plans are made and shop orders released, the process must be
monitored to learn what is actually happening. The results are compared to
the plan to decide whether corrective action is necessary. Production activity
control will do the following:

 Rank the shop orders in desired priority sequence by work center and
establish a dispatch list based on this information.
 Track the actual performance of work orders and compare it to planned
schedules. Where necessary, PAC must take corrective action by re-

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 planning, rescheduling, or adjusting capacity to meet final delivery
requirements.
 Monitor and control work-in-process, lead times, and work center
queues.
 Report work center efficiency, operation times, order quantities, and
scrap.

1.5. Manufacturing Systems

The particular type of production control system used varies from company to
company, but all should perform the functions just mentioned. However, the
relative importance of these functions will depend on the type of
manufacturing process. Manufacturing processes can be conveniently
organized into three categories:

1. Flow manufacturing.

2. Intermittent manufacturing.

3. Project manufacturing.

1.5.1. Flow manufacturing

Flow manufacturing is concerned with the production of high volume standard
products. If the units are discrete (e.g., cars and appliances), the process is
usually called repetitive manufacturing, and if the goods are made in a
continuous flow (e.g., gasoline), the process is called continuous
manufacturing. There are four major characteristics of flow manufacturing:

1. Routings are fixed, and work centers are arranged according to the routing.
The time taken to perform work at one work center is almost the same as at
any other work center in the line, enabling a constant flow.

2. Work centers are dedicated to producing a limited range of similar products.

Machinery and tooling are especially designed to make the specific products.

3. Material flows from one workstation to another using some form of

mechanical transfer. There is little buildup in work-in-process inventory, and
throughput times are low.

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4. Capacity is fixed by the line.

Production activity control concentrates on planning the flow of work and

making sure that the right material is fed to the line as stated in the planned
schedule. Since work flows from one workstation to another automatically,
implementation and control are relatively simple.

1.5.2. Intermittent manufacturing

Intermittent manufacturing is characterized by many variations in product
design, process requirements, and order quantities. This kind of manufacturing
is characterized by the following:

1. Flow of work through the shop is varied and depends on the design of a
particular product. As orders are processed, they may take more time at one
workstation than at another. Thus, the work flow is not balanced.

2. Machinery and workers must be flexible enough to do the variety of work

involved in intermittent manufacturing. Machinery and work centers are
usually grouped according to the function they perform, for example, all lathes
in one department.

3. Throughput times are generally long. Scheduling work to arrive just when
needed is difficult, the time taken by an order at each work center varies, and
work queues before work centers, and causing long delays in processing.
Work-in-process inventory is often large.

4. The capacity required depends on the particular mix of products being built
and is sometimes difficult to predict. Production activity control in intermittent
manufacturing is complex. Because of the number of products made, the
variety of routings and scheduling problems, PAC is a major activity in this
type of manufacturing. Planning and control are typically exercised using shop
orders or detailed schedules for each batch being produced. Most of the
discussion of PAC in this text assumes this kind of environment.

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1.5.3. Project manufacturing
Project manufacturing usually involves the creation of one unit or a small
number of units. Complex shipbuilding is an example. Because the design of a
product is often carried out or modified as the project develops, there is close
coordination between manufacturing, marketing, purchasing, and engineering.

Project manufacturing or management uses many of the same techniques as

production activity control, but also has some unique characteristics. Activities
typically included in project management are:

 Initiating the project, which includes identifying the project

requirements
 Planning the project, including the scope, schedule and tasks, budget,
resources, and risks
 Executing the project by carrying out the tasks
 Monitoring and controlling the project tasks and resources, and
communicating the status of the project to stakeholders.
 Closing the project, which includes documenting the results, as well as
any variances in time and costs

1.6. Data Requirements

 To plan the processing of materials through manufacturing, PAC must
have the following information: What and how much to produce;
when parts are needed so the completion date can be met, what
operations are required to make the product and how long the
operations will take and what the available capacities of the
various work centers are.
 PAC must have data, usually stored in databases, to drive the
information systems. These database files are of two types, planning
and control.
 The four planning files needed are the item master file, product
structure file (bill of material file), routing file and work center file. The
item master file contains all of the pertinent data related to each part

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 number. The product structure or bill of material (BOM) file contains
single-level BOM’s listing components and quantities needed to
assemble a parent. It forms a basis for a “pick list”. A routing exists
for each part number and consists of a series of operations and
instructions required to make the item. The work center master file
collects relevant data on a work center.
 The two control files are the shop order master file and the shop order
detail file. Each active manufacturing order has a record in the shop
order master file to monitor production performance for each shop
order. The shop order detail file contains the performance record for
each operation.

1.7. Order Preparation

Once authorization to process an order has been received, PAC is responsible
for planning and preparing its release to the shop floor. The order should be
reviewed to be sure that the necessary resources are available. Material and
capacity availability must be checked. Checking capacity availability is a two-
step process. First, the order must be scheduled to see when the capacity is
needed, and second, the load on work centers must be checked in that period.

1.8. Objectives of Production Control

1. Issuing the necessary orders to the proper personnel through the
prescribed channels for affecting the plan.

2. To ensure availability of the means of carrying out the orders the materials,
machines, tools, equipment and manpower in the required quality at the
required time.

3. To ensure carrying out of the orders by the personnel so that goods are
produced in the required quantities of the specified quality at the pre-
determined time. Thus, the underlying principle of production control is that
the highest efficiency in production is obtained by producing the required in
time and in the best and cheapest method possible.

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1.9. Production Activity Control hierarchy functions
The PAC hierarchy consists of a number of functions these include:

• The scheduling function

• The dispatching function

• The monitoring function

• The materials transportation function and

• The process control function.

The Scheduling Function:

Scheduling is performed as part of the production planning and control

function. Schedules serve as a guide for production and for establishing
manufacturing resource requirements in terms of manpower, facilities, tooling
and machine capacity. From the wide range of tasks controlled through
scheduling it is obvious that the quality of schedules produced is a major
influence on the effectiveness of a manufacturing enterprise.

The PAC scheduling function is a short term scheduler whose goals are that
only what is required is produced, when it is needed and in the correct
quantity. The task of this function is therefore, to develop a detailed schedule
for a time frame of between one day and one week which brings the
manufacturing organization closer to the achievement of production targets
set by the long-term master production schedule.

Prior to releasing orders onto the shop floor the PAC scheduler develops a
production plan or schedule. This identifies the orders to be worked on, their
sequence and their timing. It may specify either dates of completion for a
product or at a much more detailed level, the start and completion times for
individual operations on products. A wide range of techniques may be used to
develop a shop floor schedule including simple Gantt charts, integer
programming and simple heuristics.

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The Dispatching Function:

Dispatching is the final determination of job sequencing for a work center and
it is responsible for coordinating the individual work-center schedules, the
work center itself and material movement control. When an operation is to be
executed, the required material, if available, can be dispatched to the desired
location. This is aided by knowledge of the quantities and locations of all the
work in process (WIP) items. Selection of which item to dispatch may be
based on highest priority, work center availability or material handling
availability.

The dispatching of orders requires up to date information on many aspects of

the production process. It represents real-time control within PAC. It
determines the job sequence for each work center and oversees transportation
of material.

Working from daily or more frequent schedules, the dispatching function

ensures that these schedules are adhered to as closely as possible. If
disturbances occur, it is the function of the Dispatcher to re-sequence the jobs
within the limits of the schedule. This involves deciding when and what to do
with each job. The scheduling function is notified of any shortfalls and may
incorporate these as a backlog in the next schedule.

The Monitoring Function:

The monitoring function can be seen as comprising of three different areas

namely:

• Data Collection.

• Data Analysis.

• Decision Support.

The data collection system collects all the relevant information from the shop
floor and this is then analyzed to produce both real-time and historical reports.
Examples of real-time reporting include current utilization levels, inventory
levels etc. Historical reporting involves producing graphs and reports on a

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variety of items of interest to manufacturing personnel. As well as acting as a
reporting mechanism, the Monitor also has a decision support capability. For
example, if the level of materials on the shop floor was below the desired level
at a certain point in time, then the Monitor would have to signal this to the
higher control functions in the PAC system.

The Materials Transport Function:

The materials transport/handling function controls the shop floor

transportation devices. These can consist of carousels, robots, automated
guided vehicles (AGVs), manual transporters, etc. It is the job of the materials
transport function to co-ordinate these devices and to make sure they are in
the right place at the right time according to the schedule. It also should
ensure the no collisions occur between the transportation devices. This is an
important function in the PAC system because the movers control not only the
movement of parts around the system but also look after the transport of
materials in the manufacturing plant, under the direction of the Dispatcher.

The Process Control Function:

The process control function of PAC controls specific types of production

equipment such as CNC machines and robots through standard protocols. The
process control function isolates the physical level of production devices from
the strategic control level by translating general instructions from the
Dispatcher into specific device instructions. The process controller also
communicates performance data to the monitoring system.

1.10. Production Activity Control Process

The time arrives when plans must be executed, when material requirements
planning and capacity requirements planning have been completed and the
detail purchasing and production schedules must be determined and released
for execution. The function of production activity control (PAC)–often called
shop floor control (SFC)—is to have activities performed as planned, to report
on operating results, and to revise plans as required to achieve desired result.

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Order release, dispatching, and progress reporting are the three primary
functions of PAC. Dispatching is the activation of orders per original plans.
Dispatching decisions are affected by queue management, I/O control, and
priority control principles and techniques that are intertwined and mutually
supportive. They are useful in the management of lead-time, queue length,
work center idle time, and scheduled order completion. Reports on the status
of orders, materials, queues, tooling, and work center utilization are essential
for control. Many report types with various information are possible.
Examining a given situation will reveal which reports and information are
required.

Production activity control (PAC) is responsible for executing the Materials

Requirements Planning (MPS) and the Master Production Schedule (MRP). At
the same time, it must make good use of labor and machines minimize work-
in-process inventory and maintain customer service.

The MRP authorizes PAC:

 To release work orders to the shop for manufacturing;

 To take control of work orders and make sure they are completed on
time;
 To be responsible for the immediate detailed planning of the flow of
orders through manufacturing, carrying out the plan and controlling the
work as it progresses to completion;
 To manage day-to-day activity and provide the necessary support.

Planning – The flow of work through each of the work centers must be
planned to meet delivery dates, which means PAC must do the following:

 Ensure that the required materials, tooling, personnel and information

are available to manufacture the components we needed;
 Schedule start and completion dates for each shop order at each work
center so the scheduled completion date of the order can be met. This
will involve the planner in developing a load profile for the work centers.

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Implementation – Once the plans are made, PAC must put them into action
by advising the shop floor what must be done. Usually instructions are given
by issuing a shop order. PAC will:

 Gather the information needed by the shop floor to make the product;
 Release orders to the shop floor as authorized by the MRP. This is called
dispatching.

Control – Once plans are made and shop orders released, the process must
be monitored to learn what is actually happening. The results are compared to
the plan to decide whether corrective action is necessary. PAC will do the
following:

 Rank the shop orders in desired priority sequence by work center and
establish a dispatch list based on this information
 Track the actual performance of work orders and compare it to planned
schedules. Where necessary, PAC must take corrective action by re-
planning, rescheduling or adjusting capacity to meet final delivery
requirements
 Monitor and control work-in-process, lead times and work center queues
 Report work center efficiency, operation times, order quantities and
scrap.

Dispatch list – Once all the operations are scheduled and the material has
been picked and delivered to the work center, you can print a dispatch list to
keep track of work order and work center status. A dispatch list (or query)
displays by work center all work orders with operations scheduled for that
work center in the following order:

 All work orders, completed but not yet moved to another work center.
 All active (started) work orders (in-process and in-setup).
 All work orders which are ready to start (in queue and coming).
 All work orders on hold.

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1.11. Requirements of Production Control System
A good and effective production-control system requires sound organizational
structure, reliable information, a relatively high degree of standardization and
trained personnel for its success. Factors that are needed to make production
control successful are summarized below:

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1. Information about Requirements and Productive Capacities Complete
knowledge of the products to be produced. Detailed information about the
number and types of each machine and processing unit together with the
complete tabulated data on power, speed, and feeds of all machines.

 Detailed information about the time and sequence of operations for

each part of the final product and for the finished product as a whole.
 Accurate up-to-date information regarding total material requirements,
materials in stores, quantities to be purchased, time required to get
them.
 Knowledge on the availability of special tools such as jigs and fixtures
needed for each part.
 Information about the labor-force in the plant and their productive
capacities.
 Information on time taken and costs incurred on previous performance.
 Records of best performance on similar work with best combinations of
tools, feeds and speed;
 Precise knowledge of the progress of the work-in-process.
2. The following should conform to Scientifically Determined Standards

 Fabricated and purchased materials

 Tools and equipment, to the extent possible
 Operations on all parts as per design and procedure only
 Production standards for labor force
 Provision for adequate inspection to make sure that quality is
maintained.
 Reports on production performance in comparison with the scheduled
production.
3. The Best Organization Structure Set up

 First, support from the top management with recognition of the need for
production planning followed by delegation of their authority with fixed
responsibility.

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  Secondly, full understanding on the part of the supervisory staff that
the determination of their work-schedule from the central planning
room is just an extension of the principles and in no way amounts to
erosion of the prestige and power.
4. Availability of Suitable Personnel

 Personnel should understand the scheduled operations.

 They should be fully trained to fit into the requirements of the particular
system adopted.
 They should be properly remunerated to enlist their interest.

1.12. Levels of Production Control

Production control starts with some particular goal and formulation of some
general strategy for the accomplishment of desired objectives. There are three
levels of production control namely programming, ordering and
dispatching.

 Programming plans the output of products for the factory as a whole.

 Ordering plans the output of components from the suppliers and
processing departments.
 Dispatching considers each processing department in turn and plans the
output from the machine, tools and other work centers so as to
complete the orders by due date.

1.13. Factors Determining Production Control Operations

The nature of production control operations varies from organization to
organization. The following factors affect the nature and magnitude of
production control methods in an organization.

Nature of production: In job-oriented manufacturing, products and

operations are designed for some particular order which may or may not be
repeated in future. Hence production usually requires more time, whereas
in a continuous manufacturing system inventory problems are more complex
but control operations are rather simple due to fixed process. In mixed stock

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and custom manufacturing systems the problem of control is further
complicated due to simultaneous scheduling of combined process.

Nature of operations/activities: In intermittent manufacturing system the

operations are markedly varied in terms of their nature, sequence and
duration. Due to this the control procedure requires continuous modifications
and adjustments to suit the requirements of each order.

Magnitude of operations: Centralized control secures the most effective co-

ordination but as an organization grows in size, decentralization of some
production control functions becomes necessary. The degree to which the
performance of an activity should be decentralized depends upon the scope of
operations and convenience of their locations.

1.14. Production activity control mechanisms

In PAC there are several mechanisms that can be implemented. The most
referred ones are Base Stock System, Toyota Kanban System, Constant Work
in Process, and Paired-Cell Overlapping Loops of Cards with Authorization.
However, as previously mentioned, the implemented mechanisms in this
project are Workload Control, Generic Kanban System and Drum-Buffer-Rope,
associated with a make-to-order production (Burbidge, 1990).

1.14.1. Workload Control

Workload control is aimed at controlling the workload in the production
system. Maintaining the workload of the system stable results in shorter and
stabilized course times and consequently better delivery performances when
compared to systems without control (Kingsman, B., & Hendry, L.,2002).
Therefore, in this mechanism, jobs are not immediately released into the
system. Instead, they wait in a pre-shop pool for authorization to be released,
according to the workload levels. This authorization is only given whenever
jobs follow certain Workload Control rules associated with the work centers of
its course (Stevenson & Kingsman, 2005). In addition, the WLC is based on an
input/output control. Thereby, the input rate of work is balanced according to
the output rate and jobs are only released when the previous ones are
concluded.

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1.14.2. Generic Kanbans System
The Generic Kanban System is a mechanism based on the use of signals
(denominated as Kanbans). The name of this mechanism is related to the
usage of generic signals, which can be attributed to any job and not just to a
specific one (Chang & Yih, 1994).
In each work center, there are a number of signals available and specific to
the different centers. Therefore, a job is only released into the production
system when there is at least one Kanban available in every center.
Otherwise, it waits on the pre-shop pool. The Kanbans are allocated to jobs
when they are released, and follow them until job processing is finished. Each
time a job finishes its process on the work center; Kanbans are dissociated
and thus, can be allocated to new jobs (Akillioglu, et al. 2016).

1.14.3. Drum-Buffer-Rope
The mechanism Drum-Buffer-Rope consists on identifying the constrainer work
center (bottleneck) of the production system to synchronize the production
flow. Metaphorically, once the drum (bottleneck) is identified, it defines the
rhythm of the other work centers since it is the one with the highest load
(Lage & Godinho, 2010). Thereby, the bottleneck is responsible for the
performance of the whole production system (Atwater, 2005).
Furthermore, rope controls raw material needs according to the bottleneck’s
capacity. Similarly to the previous mechanisms, when jobs are not
immediately released into the production system, they remain in the pre-shop
pool until the authorization is given. The bottleneck can vary over time.
However, in this project, it will be constant.

1.15. Advantages of Production Control

A good production control system means more production on the same
investment without unduly speeding up workers. The advantages of production
planning and control are given below:

1. Better service to customers

Promised delivery dates are kept, production flows as per scheduled time. This
injects confidence in the traveling salesmen of the firm to set delivery date.

16
Timely delivery and customers’ confidence, improve customer-relations and
sales.

2. Less overtime work

As production takes place as per schedule, there will be few rush orders.
Therefore, there will be less overtime work in the organization, compared to
other firms in the same industry.

3. Need of smaller inventories of work-in-process and of finished goods

Enterprise working under an effective production planning and control system

requires lower inventories of material, parts, components, etc., for work-in-
process and less of finished goods in stocks. This results in less investment in
inventory. Funds thus freed may be put to other more income-earning uses.
Also, orders of customers can be supplied in full. This would bring the benefits
of economy in transport costs too.

4. More Effective Purchasing

As better materials management led to effective inventory control, purchasing

is more scientific, economical and timely.

5. More effective use of equipment

Management is constantly kept informed on the current position of all work-in-

process and on equipment and personnel requirements for the next few weeks
ahead. Therefore, workers can be informed in advance of possible lay-offs,
transfers etc. Also belated purchase of equipment and materials can be
avoided and idleness of men and machine eliminated.

6. Less loss of time

a. Because of phased flow of material, workers need not wait for the material
for long. Hence, there will be less of workmen hours.

b. The time of management staff is conserved in two ways.

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First, their personal attention is drawn only when there is any serious flaw in
the working of the system. Secondly, they need not spend much time on
research and analysis of data, etc., required for long-range planning as they
can proceed to prepare such plans for expansion on the basis of the data
made available by the production planning and control system.

7. Savings in the cost

A properly designed and introduced system of production planning and control

results in major cost-savings.

8. Less work-stoppage

Work-stoppages are avoided or minimized in terms of time-duration.

Therefore, delay occurring in the dispatch of goods to customers is very rare.

2. Scheduling
The objective of scheduling is to meet delivery dates and to make the best use
of manufacturing resources. It involves establishing start and finish dates for
each operation required to complete an item. To develop a reliable schedule,
the planner must have information on routing, required and available capacity,
competing jobs, and manufacturing lead times at each work center involved.

Manufacturing lead-time is the time normally required to produce an item in a

typical lot quantity and consists of five elements.

 Queue time: amount of time the job is waiting at a work center before
operation begins.
 Setup time: time required to prepare the work center for operation.
 Run time: time needed to run the order through the operation.
 Wait time: amount of time the job is at the work center before being
moved to the next work center.
 Move time: transit time between work centers.
The largest of the five elements is queue time. PAC is responsible for
managing the queue by regulating the flow of work into and out of work

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centers. PAC must manage both the input of orders to the production process
and the available capacity to control queue and work-in-process.

 Cycle time (throughput time) is the length of time from when material
enters a production facility or operation until it exits.
 Forward scheduling assumes that material procurement and operation
scheduling for a component start when the order is received, whatever
the due date, and that operations are scheduled forward from this date.
The result is completion before the due date, which usually results in a
buildup of inventory.
 Backward scheduling schedules the last operation on the routing first
and is scheduled for completion at the due date. Previous operations
are scheduled back from the last operation.
 Infinite loading assumes infinite capacity will be available.
 Finite loading assumes there is a defined limit to available capacity at
any workstation.
In operation overlapping, the next operation is allowed to begin before the
entire lot is completed on the previous operation. This reduces the total
manufacturing lead times because the second operation starts before the first
operation finishes all the parts in the order. Increased costs are possible from
move costs and the impact of queue and lead-time for other orders. Operation
splitting is the process of splitting orders into two or more lots and run
simultaneously on two or more machines.

Load Leveling: The load profile for a work center is constructed by

calculating the standard hours of operation for each order in each time period
and adding them together by time period.

2.1. Scheduling Techniques

There are many techniques used to schedule shop orders through a plant, but
all of them require an understanding of forward and backward scheduling as
well as finite and infinite loading.
Forward scheduling assumes that material procurement and operation
scheduling for a component start when the order is received, whatever the

19
due date, and that operations are scheduled forward from this date. The result
is completion before the due date, which usually results in a buildup of
inventory. This method is used to decide the earliest delivery date for a
product.
Forward scheduling is used to calculate how long it will take to complete a
task. The technique is used for purposes such as developing promise dates for
customers or figuring out whether an order behind schedule can be caught up.
Backward scheduling is the last operation on the routing is scheduled first
and is scheduled for completion at the due date. Previous operations are
scheduled back from the last operation. This schedules items to be available
as needed and uses the same logic as the MRP system. Work-in-process
inventory is reduced, but because there is little slack time in the system,
customer service may suffer.
Backward scheduling is used to determine when an order must be started.
Backward scheduling is common in a make-to-stock environment because it
reduces inventory.
Infinite loading it assumes infinite capacity will be available.
Finite loading assumes there is a defined limit to available capacity at any
workstation. If there is not enough capacity available at a workstation because
of other shop orders, the order has to be scheduled in a different time period.

2.2. Schedule construction/update activity

This is the task directly involved in building the production schedule. The
importance of many of its inputs has already been described, although we
should note that both the knowledge that the scheduler has about techniques
for generating or updating schedules and the quality of the scheduler’s
representation of the manufacturing environment are constrained by the
capacity that the scheduler has to model complex systems and process
complex decisions and to store relevant information. In the case of human
schedulers, their mental ability is a very important constraint in generating or
updating schedules.
In this activity, deciding whether to update a schedule or generate a
completely new schedule will depend on whether or not the changes in the

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perceived status of the production environment affect the fulfillment of the
scheduling goals. A detailed study of the decision process carried out in this
activity can be found in the work by Sanderson (1991) & Jorna (2006). This is
where the scheduler chooses and applies what he perceives to be the best
technique from his knowledge to generate or update the schedule.

2.2.1. Schedule construction/update inputs

1. Scheduling goals: These are the principal objectives or goals of the
scheduling task, e.g. minimizing the number of tardy jobs, maximizing
resource utilization, maximizing the throughput, etc. This input determines
whether the production results are deemed satisfactory.
2. Incoming jobs: These are jobs that have not been already considered in the
schedule, that is, they have not yet been assigned to a resource or they have
not been allocated a time in a particular resource or given a sequence. This
input is relevant regardless of whether the company has a specific order
release activity.
3. Schedule construction/update knowledge: This refers to the amount of
relevant knowledge that the schedule generator has about the techniques
used to build feasible schedules and that can attain the desired company
goals. Furthermore, the amount and relevance of this knowledge depends
partly on the techniques available for solving the various instances of
scheduling problems proposed in the literature and partly on the experience of
the scheduler.
4. Representation of the manufacturing environment: The representation is
the abstraction that the scheduler has about the real manufacturing
environment. If the scheduler is human, the representation would be a mental
model of the various components of the manufacturing environment and the
scheduling constraints. As in any task that works with models of real systems,
the representation needs to resemble the real manufacturing environment as
much as possible so that it is able to correctly account for all the components
involved in the production process. More on this topic can be found in Hommel
(2006) & Hoc (2006). A correct representation of the actual manufacturing
environment and its three elements is a key factor in accurately perceiving the

21
state of the manufacturing environment by knowing what elements should be
monitored and be able to create feasible schedules.
5. Manufacturing environment status perception: This factor is the output of
the monitoring activity and it is the scheduler’s idea of the status of the
production environment and informs the generating of the schedule. The more
dissimilar the perception and the reality are, the less likely it is that the
production schedule will be feasible and the desired goals will be attained.
6. Production schedule: The production schedule is both an input to and an
output of the schedule generation activity. It is an input because in order to
update a schedule that has been deemed irrelevant due to disturbances or
incoming jobs, the scheduler needs the data from the previous schedule so the
production is only being “rescheduled” instead of having to generate a
completely new schedule.

2.3. Approaches to scheduling

One can think of two fundamentally different approaches to solving production
scheduling problems:

(a) An algorithmic approach, and

(b) A reformulative approach.

An algorithmic approach to scheduling what is meant here by the term

‘algorithmic’ approach includes formulating a scheduling problem in a classical
mathematical programming context (i.e., an objective or set of objectives
subject to a set of constraints). After problem formulation, the algorithmic
approach then works toward developing a solution methodology that finds the
feasible solution(s) which maximize(s) the objective(s). Solution methods
could include, for example, any mathematical programming method like
dynamic programming, integer programming, etc., search procedures such as
in branch and bound methods, sampling techniques as in simulation, and any
type of heuristic method. To be considered an algorithmic method, the
solution method(s) may not necessarily find optimal solutions, it need only be
optimum-seeking (or at least have its ‘goodness’ compared to other solution

22
methods based on the objective function value it produces). The key is that
this general approach concentrates heavily on the solution methodology and
treats the problem formulation as given.

A reformulative approach to scheduling what shall be called here

‘reformulative’ methods differs from algorithmic methods in. two, important
ways. First, problems may be formulated in such a way that simply finding
‘satisfactory’ solutions may be the primary objective. Second, the problem is
restated (reformulated) whenever a satisfactory solution does not appear to
exist (or when it is judged too hard to find). Rather than concentrating on the
solution methodology, the approach here concentrates on proactively
reformulating the problem until a satisfactory solution becomes relatively easy
to find.

A reformulative approach concentrates on the first phase of this process and

continues to make the model ‘richer’ until the analysis phase becomes
relatively easy. An algorithmic approach might also at times suggest a model
reformulation. But the essential difference here would be a matter of
motivation. An algorithmic approach might propose simplifying the model so
as to permit the use of a particular solution method, whereas a reformulative
approach, instead of seeking to simplify the model, would act to enrich it so as
to make the use of a particular solution method less critical. For example,
consider a simple scheduling situation in which there is a single machine to
process jobs that arrive at different points in time within the planning period.
The objective might be to find a schedule which minimizes mean tardiness. An
algorithmic approach might entertain simplifying the formulation by first
assuming all jobs to be immediately available for processing. This simplified
problem would then be solved and perhaps some heuristic used to alter the
solution so that the original assumption of dynamic arrivals is back in tack.
The approach looks at reformulation as a means to ‘divide et impera’. On the
other hand a reformulative approach may, after realizing that the initial
formulation is difficult to solve, seek to find a ‘richer’ problem formulation. For
example, the question might be asked “is working overtime a viable

23
alternative?“, or “does there exist another machine that can accomplish this
task?“, or “is there a subset of orders that are less critical than others?‘, and
so on. A reformulative approach would continually enrich the problem
formulation until a satisfactory solution was relatively easy to specify.

2.4. Scheduling Bottlenecks

 Bottlenecks are overloaded workstations where the required capacity is
greater than the available capacity. It is a facility, function,
department, or resource whose capacity is equal to or less than the
demand placed upon it.
 Throughput is the total volume of production passing through a facility.
Bottlenecks control the throughput of all products.
 Since bottlenecks control throughput.
The fundamental concept behind Theory of Constraints, developed by Eliyahu
M. Goldratt, is that every operation producing a product or service is a series
of linked processes. Each process has a specific capacity to produce the given
defined output for the operation, and that in virtually every case, there is one
process that limits or constrains (bottleneck) the throughput from the entire
operation. Focus on balancing the flow through the shop. The time lost at a
non-constraint is a mirage, and transfer batches do not have to be the same
size as process batches.

Once constraint has been identified, there is a five-step process that is

recommended to help improve the performance of the operation. The five
steps are:

(1) Identify the constraint

(2) Exploit the constraint

(3) Subordinate everything to the constraint

(4) Elevate the constraint

(5) Once the constraint is a constraint no longer, find the new one and repeat
the steps.

The scheduling system for Theory of Constraints is described as Drum-Buffer-

Rope. The drum of the system refers to the “drumbeat” or pace of production.

24
It represents the master schedule for the operation, which is focused around
the pace of throughput as defined by the constraint. Since it is so important
that the constraint never be “starved” for needed inventory, a “time” buffer is
often established in front of the constraint. It is called a time buffer because it
represents the amount of time that the inventory in the buffer protects the
constraint from disruption. The analogy is that the rope “pulls” production to
the constraint for necessary processing. The primary focus of the scheduling
system is on effective management of the organization’s constraint to
throughput and sales.

 Orders that do not have all of the necessary resources, tooling,

material, and capacity, should not be released because they only cause
excess work-in-process inventory and may interrupt work on orders that
can be completed.
 A shop packet accompanies a shop order release to manufacturing.
This packet may include the shop order, engineering drawings, bills of
material, routing sheets, materials issue tickets or pick list, tool
requisitions, and job tickets for each operation to be performed, and
move tickets that authorize movement of work between operations.
 Once work orders have been issued to manufacturing, their progress
has to be controlled. To control progress, performance has to be
measured and compared to what is planned. If what is actually
happening (what is measured) varies significantly from what was
planned, either the plans have to be changed or corrective action must
be taken to bring performance back to plan.
 PAC must balance the flow of work to and from different work centers.
This is to ensure queue, work-in-process, and lead times are controlled.
The input/output control system is designed to balance the input rate in
hours with the output rate. The input rate is controlled by the release
of orders to the shop floor. The output rate is controlled by increasing
or decreasing the capacity of a work center.
 To control input and output, a plan must be devised along with a
method for comparing what actually occurs against what was planned.

25
 This information is shown on an input/output report. Cumulative
variance is the difference between the total planned for a given period
and the actual total for that period (Cumulative variance = previous
cumulative variance + actual – planned). Planned and actual inputs
monitor the flow of work coming to the work center. Planned and actual
outputs monitor the performance of the work center. Planned and
actual backlogs monitor the queue and lead-time performance.
 Operation sequencing is a technique for short-term planning of actual
jobs to be run in each work center based on capacity and priorities.
Control of priorities is exercised through dispatching. Dispatching is the
function of selecting and sequencing available jobs to be run at
individual work centers. The dispatch list is the instrument of priority
control. It’s a listing by operation of all the jobs available to be run at a
work center with the job listed in priority sequence.
 The ranking of jobs for the dispatch list is created through the
application of priority rules. Some commonly used rules are:
(1) First come, first served (FCFS)
(2) Earliest job due date (EDD)
(3) Earliest operation due date (ODD)
(4) Shortest process time (SPT) and
(5) Critical ratio (CR = (due date – present date) / lead time
remaining).

26
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