Scheduling

(Chapter 16)
Planning Stages in Operation
 Scheduling

▪ Specifies when labour, equipment, and facilities

are needed to produce a product or a service

▪ Scheduling deals with timing of operations

▪ Scheduling occurs in every organization

Classroom Schedule Chart
Reasons for Planning for
Short-Term
▪ Additional information becomes available
 Order cancellation, new orders, terms of existing orders
▪ Random occurrence of events
 Breakdown of machines, absenteeism, delays in raw material
supply, revision of job priorities
 Fine tune planning and decision making
▪ Focus on micro-resources
 Single machine, set of workers and so on
 Such focus is neither possible nor warranted in medium or lon-
term planning
 Scheduling

▪ Scheduling takes place in

 High-volume systems
 Intermediate-volume systems
 Low-volume systems
 Scheduling

Categorize scheduling techniques as

 Forward scheduling
 Backward scheduling
 Scheduling Techniques

▪ Forward Scheduling
 Refers to situation in which the system takes an
order and then schedules each operation that must
be completed forward. Scheduling ahead from a
point in time.
 Applications
 Hospitals and clinics
 Fine-dining restaurants
 Machine tool manufacturers
 For special machines
Backward Scheduling
▪ Backward Scheduling
 Starts from some date in future (due date) and
then schedules the required operations in reverse
sequence. In essence, scheduling backward from
a due date.
 Applications
 Assembly programs in manufacturing
 Holding conferences
 Scheduling surgery
 Marriages
 MRP
Forward Vs. Backward Scheduling

Start processing when order is received regardless of due date

Schedule the job’s last activity so it is finished right before the due date
11
Objectives of Scheduling

▪ Meeting customer due dates

▪ Minimizing job lateness
▪ Minimizing response time
▪ Minimizing time in system
▪ Maximizing machine or labour utilization
 Job Shop Scheduling

▪ Job shop scheduling also known as production control or

shop floor control
▪ Responsibilities of production control dept. are
 Loading
 Sequencing
 Dispatching
 Monitoring
 Preparing various reports (scrap, performance,
rework)
Loading

▪ Loading is a capacity control technique

that decides which jobs to assign to
which work centers
Loading Work Centers

▪ Infinite loading
▪ Finite loading
Sequencing

▪ When more than one job is assigned to a

machine or activity, the operator needs to know
the order in which to process the jobs. The
process of prioritizing jobs is called sequencing
 Dispatching

◼ Administrative process of releasing of a work

order from the production planning department
to production authorizing processing of jobs
 Shop paperwork
 Monitoring

▪ Maintaining progress on each job until

completed
Priority Rules for Job
Sequencing
(n Jobs on One M/c)
 First Come First Served (FCFS)
 Shortest Processing Time (SPT)
 Earliest Due Date (EDD)
 Longest Processing Time (LPT)
 Smallest Critical Ratio
 Rush: Emergency or preferred customers first
Assumptions of Priority
Rules
▪ Set of jobs are known, no jobs cancelled
▪ Set up time independent of process sequence
▪ Set up time deterministic
▪ Process times deterministic
▪ No interruptions such as machine breakdowns,
accidents, or worker illness
Performance Metrics

▪ Average flow time per job

▪ Utilization
▪ Average job lateness
▪ Average # jobs in the system (WIP)
 Performance Metrics

▪ Flow time: Length of time a job is at a particular work

station (Processing time + Transport time + any waiting
due to breakdown, parts non-availability, quality
problems etc.). Or, it is the amount of time it takes from
when a job arrives until it is complete.
▪
▪ Makespan: Total time needed to complete a group of
jobs. It is the time between start of the first job in the
group and the completion time of the last job in the
group
 Performance Metrics

▪ Job Lateness is the difference between a job’s

due date and its completion time

▪ Average number of jobs: Jobs that are

considered to be work-in-process inventory
 Avg number of jobs = Total Flow Time / Make
span
Sequencing (An Example)

Job Processing Time Job Due Date

(days) (days from
present time)
A 6 8

B 2 6

C 8 18

D 3 15

E 9 23
 FIRST COME FIRST SERVED (FCFS)

FCFS Job Seq Proc Time Flow Time Job Due Date Job Lateness
(1) (days) (days) (4) (3) - (4)
(2) (3) (days from
present time)

A 6 0+6 = 6 8 0

B 2 6+2 = 8 6 2

C 8 8+8 = 16 18 0

D 3 16+3 = 19 15 4

E 9 19+9 = 28 23 5

TOTAL 28 77 11

AVERAGE 77/5 =15.4 11 / 5 = 2.2

.
days days
 Metrics

▪ Avg. flow Time = Sum of total flow time / # jobs = 77 /5 = 15.4 days
▪ Utilization = Total proc. time / Sum of total flow time
28 / 77 = 36.4%
▪ Avg # jobs in system = Sum of flow time /
Total job processing time
77 days / 28 days = 2.75 jobs
▪ Avg job lateness = Total late / # jobs = 11 / 5 = 2.2 days
 SMALLEST PROCESSING TIME (SPT)
SPT Job Seq Proc Time Flow Time Job Due Job
(1) (2) (3) Date Lateness
(4) (3-4)
(days from
present
time)
B 2 0+2 =2 6 0
D 3 2+3=5 15 0
A 6 5+6 =11 8 3
C 8 11+18 =19 18 1
E 9 19+9 =28 23 5
Total 28 65 9
SPT Metrics

▪ Avg. flow time = 65 / 5 = 13 days

▪ Utilization = 28 / 65 = 43.1%
▪ Avg. # jobs in the system = 65 / 28 = 2.32
jobs
▪ Avg job lateness = 9 / 5 = 1.8 days
 EARLIEST DUE DATE (EDD)
EDD Job Seq Proc Time Flow Time Job Due Job
(1) (2) (3) Date Lateness
(4) (3-4)
(days from
present
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
TOTAL 28 68 6
 Longest Processing Time (LPT)
LPT Job Seq Proc Time Flow Time Job Due Job
Date Tardiness
(days from
present
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
TOTAL 28 103 48
Sequencing Avg. Flow Util. (%) Avg. # Average
Rule Time jobs in tardiness
system (days)
FCFS 15.4 36.4 2.75 2.2

SPT 13.0 43.1 2.32 1.8

EDD 13.6 41.2 2.43 1.2

LPT 20.6 27.2 3.68 9.6

Critical Ratio (CR)

Time Remaining until due date

CR = ---------------------------------------
Workdays remaining

Due Date – Today’s Date

CR = ----------------------------------------------
Workdays remaining (remaining processing
time)
Critical Ratio (CR)

▪ If CR < 1.0, Job falling behind schedule

▪ If CR = 1.0, Job on schedule
▪ If CR > 1.0, Job ahead of schedule
Priority Rule (FCFS)

▪ Advantages ▪ Disadvantage
 For service  Long jobs will
systems tend to delay
 Dominant other jobs
priority rule
 Appear fair to
customers
 Simplicity
Priority Rule (EDD)

▪ Advantages ▪ Disadvantages
 Addresses due dates  Ignores processing
 Intuitively appealing time
 Minimizes lateness  Long waiting for
other jobs
 Shop congestion
 High In-process
inventories
 Priority Rules (SPT)

▪ Advantages ▪ Disadvantage
 Lowest avg. completion  Tend to make long
time
jobs wait
 Lower WIP
Solution - truncated
 Lower lateness
SPT
 Better customer
service levels
 Lowest avg. # jobs in
the system
 Less congestion
 Ideal where shop is
highly congested
Sequencing
(n Jobs on 2 Machines)
▪ Johnson’s Rule
 Objective is to minimize processing time
for sequencing a group of jobs through
two work centers
 Developed by S M Johnson in 1954 for
job shop scheduling
Examples (2 work centres)

1. A book binding operation where books must

first pass through binding before going to
trimming
2. Finished products must pass through inspection
before packaging
3. A medical clinic where patient goes for
registration and then consulting
Steps – Johnson’s Rule

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

each requires on a machine is to be shown. Set
up a one-dimensional matrix to represent the
desired sequence with the number of slots equal
to # of jobs

2. Select the job with the shortest activity time. If

the shortest time lies with the first machine, the
job is scheduled first. If the shortest time lies
with the second machine, schedule the job last.
Steps – Johnson’s Rule

3. Once a job is scheduled, eliminate it

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to the remaining jobs until all the
slots in the matrix have been filled or all jobs have been
sequenced
 Johnson’s Rule (Conditions)

▪ Job time (set up + proc time) must be known for

each work center
▪ All jobs follow same two-step sequence
▪ All units in a job must be completed at the first
work center before moving to second work center
Johnson’s Rule
(An Example)
Jobs Work Center 1 Work Center 2
(hrs) (hrs)
A 5 2

B 3 6

C 8 4

D 10 7

E 7 12
Johnson’s Rule
1.

A
2.
B A
3.
B C A

4.
B E D C A
Johnson’s Rule

B E D C A

Work Center 1 3 7 10 8 5

Work Center 2 6 12 7 4 2
Johnson’s Rule

Makespan – 35 hours

Gantt Chart
Johnson’s rule – 3 work
centres
▪ Three work centres is an extension of the previous model
(2 work-centres)
▪ Examples
 A book binding operation where books pass through
printing and binding before going for trimming
 Finishing products, which pass through inspection,
painting, before going to packaging
 A medical centre where patients see a doctor, pass
onto x-ray, and then consult a specialist
 Johnson’s rule – 3 work
centres
▪ Johnson’s rule can be applied if either of the following
two criteria applies:

 The smallest time at the first processing operation is at least

as great as the largest duration on the second processing
operation

 The smallest duration on the third processing operation is at

least as great as the largest duration on the second operation.
Johnson’s rule – 3 work
centres
 Johnson’s rule – 3 work
centres
Beauty Products Pre-preparation Preparation Finishing
(hour) (hour) (hour)

Baby Blue 7 1 3

Virgin White 6 4 2

Shy Pink 8 5 4

Daring Purple 9 2 5

Sensuous Black 10 3 7

Minimum of 1st operation, i.e., 6 >= maximum of second operation, i.e., 5

Therefore, Johnson’s rule can be applied
 Johnson’s rule – 3 work
centres
Beauty products Work centre 1 Work centre 2
Operation time (hour) Operation time (hour)

Baby Blue (BB) 7+1 = 8 1+3 = 4

Virgin White (VW) 6+4 = 10 4+2 = 6

Shy Pink (SP) 8+5 = 13 5+4 = 9

Daring Purple (DP) 9+2 = 11 2+5 = 7

Sensuous Black (SB) 10+3 = 13 3+7 = 10

Apply Johnson’s rule with two work centres

Sequence: SB SP DP VW BB
Scheduling a Set Number of Jobs
on the Same no. of Machines
▪ Some work centres have enough of the right kinds of
machines to start all jobs at the same time
▪ Assignment Method (special case of transportation
method)
 There are n “things” to be distributed to n
“destination”
 Each thing must be assigned to one and only one
destination
 Only one criteria can be used (min cost or max profit)
 Assignment Method OF LINEAR
PROGRAMMING

Job A B C D E
I Rs 5 Rs 6 Rs 4 Rs 8 Rs 3
II Rs 6 Rs 4 Rs 9 Rs 8 Rs 5
III Rs 4 Rs 3 Rs 2 Rs 5 Rs 4
IV Rs 7 Rs 2 Rs 4 Rs 5 Rs 3
V Rs 3 Rs 6 Rs 4 Rs 5 Rs 5
Five jobs, 5 machines, Cost of each job given. Devise min cost assignment.
Shop Configuration

▪ Refers to the manner in which machines

are organized on the shop floor and the
flow pattern of the jobs utilizing these
machines
▪ Two alternative configurations
 Flow shop
 Job shop
 Introduction-Elements of the Job Shop Scheduling
Problems
Flow shop:
 Each of the n
jobs must be
processed
through the m
machines in the
same order.
 Each job is
processed
exactly once on
each machine.
An assembly line is a classic example of flow shop
◼ Every car goes through all the stations one by one in the same sequences;
◼ Same tasks are performed on each car in each station;
◼ Its operations scheduling is simplified as assembly line balancing;
◼ An assembly balancing problem is to determine the number of stations
and to allocate tasks to each station.
 A Pure Flow Shop

In flow shop resources are organized one after another in the order the jobs are
processed

Since all jobs follow the same order of visiting machines, the scheduling function
Is essentially reduced to one of ordering the jobs in front of the first machine.

As there are n jobs, there are n! ways in which one can draw up
alternative schedules in the shop
Job Shop

▪ Low volume job shop operations are

designed for flexibility
▪ Each product or service may have its own
routing (scheduling is much more difficult)
▪ Bottlenecks move around depending upon
the products being produced at any given
time
 Introduction-Job Shop
Drilling Center
Turnning Center

Grinding Center Milling Center

A job shop is organized by machines which are grouped according to their

functions.
 Introduction-Job Shop
Work Center 2
Work Center 1

Job A

Work Center 4 Work Center 3

Job B

 Notall jobs are assumed to require exactly the same number of

operations, and some jobs may require multiple operations on a single
machine (Reentrant system, Job B twice in work center 3 ).
 Each job may have a different required sequencing of operations.
 No all-purpose solution algorithms for solving general job shop problems ;
 Operations scheduling of shop floor usually means job shop scheduling;
 Job Shop

Job 1: 1-4-2-5-6
Job 2: 3-2-1-4-6-7
Job 3: 2-3-4-7-5-6

Since there are n! ways of rank-ordering jobs in front of a machine and since
there are m machines in the shop, and all jobs are processed on all machines,
the number of alternatives that one can draw for a job shop is given by (n!)m
Scheduling n jobs on m
machines
▪ Number of alternative schedules
(n!)m

▪ Complex

▪ Likely solution - Simulation

 Some Insights

▪ Bad news
 Real world > 2 machines
 Process times are not deterministic
 Real world production scheduling problems
are hard
 Hard to find optimal solutions to realistic
size scheduling problems
 Far from exact science
Minimizing Scheduling
Difficulties
▪ Good News
 Setting realistic due dates
 Focus on bottlenecks
 Schedule this resource and propagate
the schedule to non-bottleneck
resource
Bottleneck Scheduling

▪ Common approach
 Simplify problem by breaking into
pieces
 Scheduling bottleneck stations
and then propagating that
schedule to non-bottleneck
stations
Video

▪ Scheduling – United Airlines

Video

▪ Scheduling – United Airlines