Short Term Scheduling

Dr. Aatma Maharajh

Outline
• What is short-term scheduling?
• Characteristics of scheduling systems
• Scheduling in Job Shops
• The Assignment Method of Loading
What is Short-Term Scheduling?
• The objective of scheduling is to allocate and prioritize demand (generated by
either forecasts or customer orders) to available facilities.

(Heizer, Render & Munson, 2017)

• Scheduling is the process of deciding how to allocate resources among activities.

(Kamauff, 2010)
What is Short-Term Scheduling?
• Scheduling and control functions include:

– Allocating orders, equipment, and personnel to work centers or other specified

locations (essentially, short-run capacity planning).

– Determining the sequence of order performance (that is, establishing job priorities).

– Initiating performance of the scheduled work (commonly known as dispatching

orders).

(Kamauff, 2010)
 Planning and forecast horizons in production
planning
PRODUCTION FORECAST
PLANNING HORIZON

FACILITES Long Term

PLANNING (Years)

TIME
AGGREGATE Medium Term
PLANNING (Weeks,
Months)
MASTER
SCHEDULING

Short Term
SCHEDULING
(Hours, Days) (Ravindran, 2009)
Objectives in Scheduling
• Meeting customer due dates; • Minimizing overtime;

• Minimizing job lateness; • Maximizing machine or labor utilization;

• Minimizing response time; • Minimizing idle time; and

• Minimizing completion time; • Minimizing work-in-process inventory.

• Minimizing time in the system; (Russel & Taylor, 2011)

Backward and Forward Scheduling
• Backward Scheduling: begins with the due date, scheduling the final operation
first. Steps within the job are then scheduled, one at a time, in reverse order. By
subtracting the time needed for each item, the start time is obtained.

• Forward scheduling starts the schedule as soon as the job requirements are
known. It is used in organizations such as hospitals, clinics, restaurants, and
machine tool manufacturers. In these facilities, jobs are performed to customer
order, and delivery is typically scheduled at the earliest possible date.

(Heizer, Render & Munson, 2017)

 Characteristics of Scheduling Systems
High Volume
Types Of
Production Continuous (flow operation)
System
Key • Specialized equipment
Characteristics • Same sequence of operations
unless guided by
microprocessors and robots
Design concerns • Line balancing
• Changeover time and cost
Operational • Material Shortages
concerns • Equipment breakdowns
• Quality problems
• Product mix and volume
Intermediate Volume Low Volume
Intermittent (flow and batch Job Shop (batch or
Project (single jobs)
operations) single jobs)
• Mixture of equipment • General-purpose • Mixture of
• Similar sequence for each batch equipment equipment. Unique
• Unique sequence sequence and
for each job location for each job
• Line and worker-machine • Worker-machine • Allocating
balance balance resources to
• Changeover time and cost • Capacity utilization minimize time and
cost
• Material and equipment • Job sequencing • Meeting time
problems • Work-Centre schedule
• Set-up costs and run lengths loading • Meeting budgeted
• Inventory accumulations (run- • Work flow and costs
out times) work in process. • Resource utilization
(Roy, 2005)
Scheduling in Jobs Shops
• Also known as a shop floor control (SFC) is the the scheduling and monitoring of
day-to-day production in a job shop. It is usually performed by the production
control department.

• Responsibilities include:
– Loading: checking the availability of material, machines, and labor.
– Sequencing: releasing work orders to the shop and issuing dispatch lists for individual
machines.
– Monitoring—maintaining progress reports on each job until it is completed.

(Russell & Taylor, 2011)

Loading Jobs
• Loading work centres take two forms:

– It is oriented to capacity (Input–Output Control)

– It is related to assigning specific jobs to work centres (Gantt charts and the Assignment
Method of linear programming).

(Heizer, Render & Munson, 2017)

Input–Output Control
• A technique that allows operations personnel to manage facility work flows.

(Heizer, Render & Munson, 2017)

• Is the means of verifying that the capacity plan is being executed as planned.

(Landvater, 1997)
Steps in Input–Output Control
• If current WIP levels are reasonable and product flow through the shop is steady, then
the daily job acceptance or input rate should be set equal to the shop’s daily output rate.

• If the shop is currently overloaded or heavily congested and WIP is increasing at

several locations with the shop, then the shop’s input rate should be less than the
output rate, in order to reduce WIP levels.

• If the ship is currently underutilized and several work-centres are idle, then the shops
job input rate should be greater than the shop’s job completion rate until ideal shop
utilisation is achieved.
(Wisner, 2017)
Input–Output Control: Example

Note: Example taken from Heizer, Render & Munson (2017)

Gantt Chart
• Is a bar chart that specifies the start and finishing time for each activity on a
horizontal time scale.

• Useful for showing planned work activities vs accomplishments on the same

time scale.

• Can be used to show interdependencies among jobs and the critical jobs that need
special attention and effective monitoring.
(Ben-Daya, Duffuaa, Raouf, Knezevic & Ait-Kadi, 2009)
 Example of Gantt Chart

Source: https://
sites.google.com/site/mrstevensonstechclassroom/hl-topics-only/it-systems-in-organizations/p
Example of Gantt Load Chart

(Heizer, Render & Munson, 2017)

The Assignment Method of Loading
• The assignment method is a specialized linear programming solution procedure
for deciding which worker to assign to a task, or which job to assign to a
machine.

• Given a table of tasks and resources, the procedure creates an opportunity cost
matrix and selects the best assignment in consideration of tradeoffs among
alternatives.
(Russell & Taylor, 2011)
Procedure for The Assignment Method of Loading
1. Perform row reductions by subtracting the minimum value in each row from
all other row values.

2. Perform column reductions by subtracting the minimum value in each column

from all other column values.

3. The resulting table is an opportunity cost matrix. Cross out all zeros in the
matrix using the minimum number of horizontal or vertical lines.
Procedure for The Assignment Method of Loading
4. If the number of lines equals the number of rows in the matrix, an optimal
solution has been reached and assignments can be made where the zeros
appear. Otherwise, modify the matrix by subtracting the minimum uncrossed
value from all other uncrossed values and adding this same amount to all cells
where two lines intersect. All other values in the matrix remain unchanged.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until an optimal solution is reached.

(Russell & Taylor, 2011)

The Assignment Method of Loading: Example
TYPESETTER
JOB A B C
R-34 $11 $14 $6
S-66 $8 $10 $11
T-50 $9 $12 $7

Note: Example is Adapted from (Heizer, Render &

Munson, 2017)
Step 1
• Using the previous table, subtract the TYPESETTER
smallest number in each row from
every number in the row. JOB A B C

R-34 11-6 = 5 14-6 = 8 6-6 = 0

S-66 8-8 = 0 10-8 = 2 11-8 = 3

T-50 9-7 = 2 12-7 = 5 7-7 = 0

Step 2
• Using table generated from step 1, TYPESETTER
subtract the smallest number in each
column from every number in the JOB A B C
column.
R-34 5-0 = 5 8-2 = 6 0-0 = 0

S-66 0-0 = 0 2-2 = 0 3-0 = 3

T-50 2-0 = 2 5-2 = 3 0-0 = 0

Step 3
• Draw the minimum number of TYPESETTER
vertical and horizontal straight lines
needed to cover all zeros. Because JOB A B C
two lines suffice, the solution is not
optimal. R-34 5 6 0

S-66 0 0 3

T-50 2 3 0
Step 4
• Subtract the smallest uncovered TYPESETTER
number (2 in this table) from every
other uncovered number and add it JOB A B C
to numbers at the intersection of two
lines. R-34 5-2 = 3 6-2 = 4 0

S-66 0 0 3+2 = 5

T-50 2-2 = 0 3-2 = 0 0

Step 5
• Cover the zeros with straight lines TYPESETTER
again.
JOB A B C
• Because three lines are necessary, an
optimal assignment can be made. R-34 3 4 0

S-66 0 0 5

• Min Cost = $6 + $10 + $9 = $25. T-50 0 0 0

Sequencing Jobs
• Priority Rules: Rules used to determine the sequence of jobs in process oriented
facilities.

• These rules include:

– FCFS: First Come, First Served.
– SPT: Short Processing Time
– EDD: Earliest Due Date
– LPT: Longest Processing Time

(Heizer, Render & Munson, 2017)

Guideline for Selecting Sequencing Rules
• Use FCFS when operating at low-capacity levels.

• SPT is most useful when the shop is highly congested.

• Use EDD when only small tardiness values can be tolerated.

• Use LPT if subcontracting is anticipated so that larger jobs are completed in-
house, and smaller jobs are sent out as their due date draws near.
(Russell & Taylor, 2011)
Performance Criteria
Priority Rules: Example
• Five architectural rendering jobs are Job Work
Job Due Date
waiting to be assigned at Avanti Sethi Job (Processing)
(Days)
Time (Days)
Architects. Their work (processing)
times and due dates are given in the A 6 8
following table. The firm wants to B 2 6
determine the sequence of processing C 8 18
according to FCFS. Jobs were
assigned a letter in the order they D 3 15
arrived. Today is day 1, and work E 9 23
begins today.

Note: Example is Adapted from (Heizer, Render &

Munson, 2017)
Solution: FCFS (Creating Table)
Job Work (Processing)
Job Flow Time Job Due Date Job Lateness
Time
A 6 6 8 0
B 2 8 6 2
C 8 16 18 0
D 3 19 15 4
E 9 28 23 5
28 77 11
Solution: FCFS (Analysis)
Priority Rules: Example 2 – SPT, EDD, LPT
• Similar table can be constructed for SPT, EDD and LPT. The equations used for
the criteria are the same.

• Do the tables for the above criteria and determine which one is best.
Solution: SPT (Table)
Job Work (Processing)
Job Flow Time Job Due Date Job Lateness
Time
B 2 2 6 0
D 3 5 15 0
A 6 11 8 3
C 8 19 18 1
E 9 28 23 5
28 65 9
Solution: FCFS (Analysis)
Solution: EDD (Table)
Job Work (Processing)
Job Flow Time Job Due Date Job Lateness
Time
B 2 2 6 0
A 6 8 8 0
D 3 11 15 0
C 8 19 18 1
E 9 28 23 5
28 68 6
Solution: EDD (Analysis)
Solution: LPT (Table)
Job Work (Processing)
Job Flow Time Job Due Date Job Lateness
Time
E 9 9 23 0
C 8 17 18 0
A 6 23 8 15
D 3 26 15 11
B 2 28 6 22
28 103 48
Solution: LPT (Analysis)
Solution: Analysis of Priority Systems
• LPT is the least effective measurement for sequencing for the Avanti Sethi firm.

• SPT is superior in 3 measures, and EDD is superior in the fourth (average

lateness).

• Choice would be to schedule using SPT.

Sequencing Jobs through Two Serial Process
• Makes use of Johnson’s Rule.

• Johnson’s Rule: gives an optimal sequence for jobs processed serially through
two processes.
(Russell & Taylor, 2011)

• Based on a variation of STP rule; requires that sequence be “mapped out” to

determine the final completion time for the set of jobs.
Johnson’s Rule Procedure
1. List the time required to complete each job at each process. Set up a one-dimensional matrix to
represent the desired sequence with the number of slots equal to the number of jobs.

2. Select the smallest processing time at either process. If that time occurs at process 1, put the
associated job as near to the beginning of the sequence as possible.

3. If the smallest time occurs at process 2, put the associated job as near to the end of the sequence as
possible.

4. Remove the job from the list.

5. Repeat steps 2–4 until all slots in the matrix have been filled or all jobs have been sequenced
Johnson’s Rule: Example

Note: Example is taken from (Russell & Taylor, 2011)

Johnson’s Rule: Solution
Johnson’s Rule: Solution
Monitoring
• Methods used for loading and sequencing can also be used in monitoring.

• These include the use of:

– Gantt Charts
– Input-Output Control

• Gantt chart can be continuously updated to better reflect the progress made.

• Input-output control requires the refined to include real-time data.