Scheduling (production processes)


Scheduling is the process of arranging, controlling and optimizing work and workloads
in a production process or manufacturing process. Scheduling is used to allocate plant
and machinery resources, plan human resources, plan production processes
and purchase materials.
It is an important tool for manufacturing and engineering, where it can have a major
impact on the productivity of a process. In manufacturing, the purpose of scheduling is
to keep due dates of customers and then minimize the production time and costs, by
telling a production facility when to make, with which staff, and on which equipment.
Production scheduling aims to maximize the efficiency of the operation, utilize maximum
resources available and reduce costs.
In some situations, scheduling can involve random attributes, such as random
processing times, random due dates, random weights, and stochastic machine
breakdowns. In this case, the scheduling problems are referred to as "stochastic
scheduling".
Scheduling is the process of arranging, controlling and optimizing work and workloads
in a production process. Companies use backward and forward scheduling to allocate
plant and machinery resources, plan human resources, plan production processes and
purchase materials.

 Forward scheduling is planning the tasks from the date resources become available to
determine the shipping date or the due date.
 Backward scheduling is planning the tasks from the due date or required-by date to
determine the start date and/or any changes in capacity required.
The benefits of production scheduling include:

 Process change-over reduction

 Inventory reduction, levelling
 Reduced scheduling effort
 Increased production efficiency
 Labour load levelling
 Accurate delivery date quotes
 Real time information
 Accurately measure utilized man/equipment hours
Production scheduling tools greatly outperform older manual scheduling methods.
These provide the production scheduler with powerful graphical interfaces which can be
used to visually optimize real-time work loads in various stages of production, and
pattern recognition allows the software to automatically create scheduling
opportunities which might not be apparent without this view into the data. For example,
 an airline might wish to minimize the number of airport gates required for its aircraft, in
order to reduce costs, and scheduling software can allow the planners to see how this
can be done, by analysing time tables, aircraft usage, or the flow of passengers.
Key concepts in scheduling[
A key character of scheduling is the productivity, the relation between quantity of inputs
and quantity of output. Key concepts here are:

 Inputs : Inputs are plant, labour, materials, tooling, energy and a clean environment.
 Outputs : Outputs are the products produced in factories either for other factories or for the
end buyer. The extent to which any one product is produced within any one factory is
governed by transaction cost.
 Output within the factory : The output of any one work area within the factory is an input to
the next work area in that factory according to the manufacturing process. For example, the
output of cutting is an input to the bending room.
 Output for the next factory : By way of example, the output of a paper mill is an input to a
print factory. The output of a petrochemicals plant is an input to an asphalt plant, a
cosmetics factory and a plastics factory.
 Output for the end buyer : Factory output goes to the consumer via a service business such
as a retailer or an asphalt paving company.
 Resource allocation : Resource allocation is assigning inputs to produce output. The aim is
to maximize output with given inputs or to minimize quantity of inputs to produce required
output.

 First come, first served — The most straightforward approach and may be referred to as
first in, first out; it simply does what the name suggests.
 Round robin — Also known as time slicing, since each task is given a certain amount of
time to use resources. This is still on a first-come-first-served basis.
 Shortest remaining time first — The task which needs the least amount of time to finish is
given priority.
 Priority — Tasks are assigned priorities and are served depending on that priority. This
can lead to the starvation of the least important tasks as they are always preempted by
more important ones.
Numerical
Assignment Method: Examples of How Resources Are Allocated
By

WILL KENTON
 Full Bio

Will Kenton is an expert on the economy and investing laws and regulations.
He previously held senior editorial roles at Investopedia and Kapitall Wire and
holds a MA in Economics from The New School for Social Research and
Doctor of Philosophy in English literature from NYU.
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What Is the Assignment Method?

The assignment method is a way of allocating organizational resources in
which each resource is assigned to a particular task. The resource could be
monetary, personnel, or technological.

Understanding the Assignment Method

The assignment method is used to determine what resources are assigned to
which department, machine, or center of operation in the production process.
The goal is to assign resources in such a way to enhance production
efficiency, control costs, and maximize profits.

The assignment method has various applications in maximizing resources,

including:
  Allocating the proper number of employees to a machine or task
 Allocating a machine or a manufacturing plant and the number of jobs
that a given machine or factory can produce
 Assigning a number of salespersons to a given territory or territories
 Assigning new computers, laptops, and other expensive high-tech
devices to the areas that need them the most while lower priority
departments would get the older models

Companies can make budgeting decisions using the assignment method

since it can help determine the amount of capital or money needed for each
area of the company. Allocating money or resources can be done by
analyzing the past performance of an employee, project, or department to
determine the most efficient approach.

Regardless of the resource being allocated or the task to be accomplished,

the goal is to assign resources to maximize the profit produced by the task or
project.

Example of Assignment Method

A bank is allocating its sales force to grow its mortgage lending business. The
bank has over 50 branches in New York but only ten in Chicago. Each branch
has a staff that is used to bring in new clients.

The bank's management team decides to perform an analysis using the

assignment method to determine where their newly-hired salespeople should
be allocated. Given the past performance results in the Chicago area, the
bank has produced fewer new clients than in New York. The fewer new
clients are the result of having a small market presence in Chicago.

Example 10.7

Solve the following assignment problem. Cell values represent cost of assigning
job A, B, C and D to the machines I, II, III and IV.
Solution:
Here the number of rows and columns are equal.

∴ The given assignment problem is balanced. Now let us find the solution.

Step 1: Select a smallest element in each row and subtract this from all the
elements in its row.

Look for atleast one zero in each row and each column.Otherwise go to step 2.

Step 2: Select the smallest element in each column and subtract this from all the
elements in its column.

Since each row and column contains atleast one zero, assignments can be made.

Step 3 (Assignment):
Examine the rows with exactly one zero. First three rows contain more than one
zero. Go to row D. There is exactly one zero. Mark that zero by (i.e) job D is
assigned to machine I. Mark other zeros in its column by × .

Step 4: Now examine the columns with exactly one zero. Already there is an
assignment in column I. Go to the column II. There is exactly one zero. Mark that
zero by . Mark other zeros in its rowby × .

Column III contains more than one zero. Therefore proceed to Column IV, there is
exactly one zero. Mark that zero by . Mark other zeros in its row by × .

Step 5: Again examine the rows. Row B contains exactly one zero. Mark that zero
by .
Thus all the four assignments have been made. The optimal assignment schedule
and total cost is

The optimal assignment (minimum) cost

= ₹ 38

Example 10.8

Consider the problem of assigning five jobs to five persons. The assignment costs
are given as follows. Determine the optimum assignment schedule.

Solution:

Here the number of rows and columns are equal.

∴ The given assignment problem is balanced.

Now let us find the solution.

Step 1: Select a smallest element in each row and subtract this from all the
elements in its row.

The cost matrix of the given assignment problem is

Column 3 contains no zero. Go to Step 2.

Step 2: Select the smallest element in each column and subtract this from all the
elements in its column.

Since each row and column contains atleast one zero, assignments can be made.

Step 3 (Assignment):
Examine the rows with exactly one zero. Row B contains exactly one zero. Mark
that zero by (i.e) PersonB is assigned to Job 1. Mark other zeros in its column
by × .

Now, Row C contains exactly one zero. Mark that zero by . Mark other zeros in
its column by × .

Now, Row D contains exactly one zero. Mark that zero by . Mark other zeros in
its column by × .
Row E contains more than one zero, now proceed column wise. In column 1, there
is an assignment. Go to column 2. There is exactly one zero. Mark that zero by .
Mark other zeros in its row by × .

There is an assignment in Column 3 and column 4. Go to Column 5. There is

exactly one zero. Mark that zero by . Mark other zeros in its row by × .
Thus all the five assignments have been made. The Optimal assignment schedule
and total cost is

The optimal assignment (minimum) cost = ` 9

Example 10.9

Solve the following assignment problem.

Solution:

Since the number of columns is less than the number of rows, given assignment
problem is unbalanced one. To balance it , introduce a dummy column with all the
entries zero. The revised assignment problem is

Here only 3 tasks can be assigned to 3 men.

Step 1: is not necessary, since each row contains zero entry. Go to Step 2.

Step 2 :

Step 3 (Assignment) :
Since each row and each columncontains exactly one assignment,all the three men
have been assigned a task. But task S is not assigned to any Man. The optimal
assignment schedule and total cost is

The optimal assignment (minimum) cost = ₹ 35