Johnson's Rule

What is Johnson's Rule

 Johnson'sRule is a technique that can be
used to minimize the completion time for
a group of jobs that are to be processed
on two machines or at two successive
work centers.
Objectives of Johnson's Rule
The Objectives of the Johnson's Rule are:
 To minimise the processing time for sequencing
a group of jobs through two work centers.
 To minimise the total idle times on the machines.
 To minimise the flow time from the beginning of
the first job until the finish of the last job.
Conditions for the Johnson's Rule

In order for the technique to be used,

several conditions must be satisfied:
 Job time (including setup and processing)
must be known and constant for each job
at each work centre.
 Job times must be independent of the job
sequence. All jobs must follow the same
two-setup work sequence.
 Job priorities cannot be used.
Steps Involved In Johnson's Rule

1. All jobs are to be listed, and the processing time of

each machine is to be listed.
2. Select the job with the shortest processing time.
- If the shortest time lies on the first machine/work
centre, the job is scheduled first.
- If the shortest time lies on the second
machine/work centre, the job is scheduled at the end.
- Ties in activity times can be broken arbitrarily.
3. Once the job is scheduled, go to next step
4. Repeat steps2 and step3 to the remaining jobs,
working towards the centre of the sequence.
 Example
There are five jobs at a factory. Each
job must be processed through two
work centers (drill machine and lathe
machine). Please indicate the sequence of
the job by using the Johnson's Rule.
 The time for processing each job follows:
 Work Centre 1 Work Centre 2
Job (Drill) (Lathe)

A 5 2

B 3 6

C 8 4

D 10 7

E 7 12
Solution

 Set the sequence that will minimise the

total processing time for the five jobs:
Step 1 : The job with the shortest
processing time is A, in work centre 2
(with a time of 2 hours).
Because it is at the second
centre, schedule A last.
 Step 2 : Job B has the next shortest
time(3).
 Because that time is the first work centre,
we should schedule it first and eliminate it
from the consideration.
 Step 3 : The next shortest time is Job
C(4) on the second machine. Therefore,
place it at last.
 There is a tie(at 7) for the shortest
remaining job.
 We can place E, which was on the first
work centre, first.
Then D is placed in the last sequencing
position.
The sequential times are:
 Job B E D C A
 Work Centre 1 3 7 10 8 5
 Work Centre 2 6 12 7 4 2