Dr. M. Ahsan Akhtar Hasin, IPE, BUET.

Chapter 17
Operations Scheduling
Dr. M. Ahsan Akhtar Hasin,
BUET

Introduction to Operations Scheduling

It is the process of organizing, choosing and timing resource usage to carry out all the
activities necessary to produce the desired outputs at the desired times, while satisfying a
large number of time and relationship constraints among the activities and the resources.

In broad, the functions of Operations Scheduling are to determine the timings (start time and
completion time of each activity/operation) and sequence of operations (ordering of
operations or jobs). It is a production control function.

In operations scheduling, a customer order or production order is known as a Job. Once the
jobs are in hand, those need scheduling, as per priority. A busy shop floor (production floor)
may have many jobs under processing simultaneously.

Production control (in Production Planning and Control) function includes activities like–
 Operations scheduling,
 assigning workers to machines/operations,
 assigning jobs (orders) to work centers,
 monitoring and controlling progress of orders,
 expediting critical orders,
 etc.

Production control is also known as Shop Floor Control (SFC), or Production Activity
Control (PAC).

Some Definitions
Work Center

A Work Center is an area in production where one or more productive resources

(machines, equipment, manpower) are grouped together to perform a particular
operation(s). The work center may be a single machine, a group of machines, or an area
where a particular type of work is done. The work centers may be organized (i.e. layout
of the work centers) in many ways, depending upon type of products, requirements for
processing and customer order technique.

Shop Routing/Job Routing

It is the pattern or path of flow of materials, sequenced through work centers. Here, series
of operational steps that are carried out successively to produce an item is defined. The
operations are identified by serial number, as per design and process plan, which indicates
sequence of operations for the associated manufacturing process.

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For instance, let’s assume two jobs with the following routings:

Job1 : m1  m3  m4  m5
Job2 : m1  m2  m3  m4

Job1 FG1
m1 m3 m5
Job2
FG2
m2 m4

Infinite Vs. Finite Loading

The characteristic that distinguishes one scheduling system from another is how capacity
is considered in determining schedule. The scheduling system can consider either limited
capacity or open capacity.

Infinite loading occurs when work is assigned to a work center based on what is needed
as per market demand. No consideration is given directly whether there is sufficient
capacity to complete the scheduled orders or not. Capacity limitation/constraint is ignored
here. MRPII system, in its current form, is an Infinite Loading system by default. There
is a high chance that the schedule may become infeasible.

However, the reality is that any shop has limited capacity, in terms of both manpower and
machineries. Finite loading takes in to account available capacity of each resource, and
revises the plan to fit in the available capacity. In essence, the system determines exactly
what will be done by each resource at every moment during the operational time.

Forward vs. Backward Scheduling

Another characteristic that distinguishes scheduling systems is whether the schedule is

presented forward or backward in time. It is largely depending on type of manufacturing
system too.

Forward scheduling system takes an order, then determines its start time and then
calculates the possible finish time by adding manufacturing lead time. Generally, Make-
to-stock items decides start time and then find the probable completion time by adding
processing time in the forward direction in time line. A system that forward schedules can
tell the earliest date that an order can be completed.

Conversely, Backward scheduling determines the order due date, and then back tracks to
find possible order release date. The backward schedule tells when an order must be
started in order to complete without delay. This system is well suited to Make-to-order
systems, or Job shop. An MRP system is by default a backward scheduling system,
which can calculate order release dates by off-setting manufacturing lead time from
required dates.

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Machine vs. Labor Limited Process

Resources and their capacities are important in planning and scheduling. It is important to
know which resource ultimately governs the capacity of a work center, and thus, which
resource needs to be scheduled. Often it happens that a work center is equipped with a
machine as well as an operator (manpower). Then, it is important to know which one
(machine or manpower) is ultimately playing the main role in the operation.

In case of Machine Limited process, also known as Machine Constrained process,

machine is the critical resource that is scheduled. A work center with a computer
controlled CNC machine is an example of machine limited process, where manpower has
minor role who does not govern the capacity.

On the other hand, Labor Limited process, also known as Labor Constrained process, is
the one where labor is the critical resource that is scheduled. Generally, in a labor-
oriented operation, i.e. manual operation, it is the labor which governs the capacity of the
work center.

Capacity Planning
It is basically a planning function regarding a comparison of how much capacity is required
to meet planned output, against how much capacity is available in the floor, i.e. capacity
required vs. capacity available.

In the context of capacity planning, another important issue regarding “capacity available” is
– “Design capacity” against “Effective capacity”. Design capacity is the maximum amount of
work that an organization is capable of completing in a given period. Effective capacity is the
maximum amount of work that an organization is capable of completing in a given period
due to constraints such as quality problems, delays, material handling, etc.

Capacity required

From a scheduling perspective it is important to determine how much capacity (or time)
will be required to manufacture a quantity of parts. Simply multiply the standard cycle

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Dr. M. Ahsan Akhtar Hasin, IPE, BUET.

time by the number of parts and divide by the part or process OEE % (Original
Equipment Efficiency, or Overall Equipment Effectiveness).

If production is scheduled to produce 500 pieces of product A on a machine having a

cycle time of 30 seconds and the OEE for the process is 85%, then the time to produce the
parts would be calculated as follows:

(500 parts × 30 seconds) / 85% = 17647.1 seconds The OEE index makes it easy to
determine whether we have ample capacity to run the required production. In this
example 4.2 hours at standard versus 4.9 hours based on the OEE index.

By repeating this process for all the parts that run through a given machine, it is possible
to determine the total capacity required to run production.

Capacity available

When considering new work for a piece of equipment or machinery, knowing how much
capacity is available to run the work will eventually become part of the overall process.
Typically, an annual forecast is used to determine how many hours per year are required.
It is also possible that seasonal influences exist within the machine requirements, so a
quarterly or even monthly capacity report may be required.

To calculate the total capacity available, the volume is adjusted according to the period
being considered. The available capacity can be increased by –

a) giving overtime (short term step),

b) adding new shifts (short to mid term step)
c) buying machine (mid to long term step),
d) hiring more manpower (mid to long term step), and
e) expanding the production plant (long term step)

Now-a-days, outsourcing is also considered as a short term measure of capacity deficit.

Several companies in Bangladesh outsource a part of their target production volume to other
manufacturers.

A discrepancy between the capacity of an organization and the demands of its customers
(capacity required) results in inefficiency, either in under-utilized resources or unfulfilled
customers. The goal or objective of capacity planning is to minimize this discrepancy.

Capacity planning is a parallel function of scheduling. A good schedule in fact manages the
resources well, which ensures effective use of capacity.

Objectives of Scheduling
The objectives of scheduling are –
1. Meet due date
2. Minimize lateness
3. Minimize flow time of jobs
4. Minimize Work In Process inventory, etc.

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Job Sequencing
When more than one job remains for processing in one machine or work center, the operator
needs to know the order in which to process the jobs, literally known as a Sequence. The
process of determining a sequence of orders is known as Job Sequencing. It means
determination of which jobs to start first, the next, etc. on a machine, or work center.

This is done using some rules known as “Priority Rule”, which is judged against some
performance criteria, such as minimization of flow time. These are simple, requiring only that
jobs be sequenced according to the rule described. This is specially useful in case of order-
based companies, e.g. make-to-order. If no particular order is specified, the operator would
probably process the job that arrived first. This default sequence is called first-come, first-
served (FCFS).

Some commonly used priority rules are :

1. First Come First Serve (FCFS) – Jobs or orders are run in the order they arrive.

2. Last Come First Serve (LCFS) – What ever job arrives the last is processed first.
Although this is not common, but found in many practical situations, such as in a
retail supermarket/outlet, warehouse, etc. As the products/materials arrive, they are
placed on the front side of shelves. When customers visit, they pickup from the front
side, although put the last.

3. Shortest Operation Time (SOT), or Shortest Processing Time (SPT) – Run the job
with the shortest completion time first, next shortest second, and so on.

4. Earliest Due Date (EDD) – Run the job with the earliest due date first.

5. Critical Ratio (CR) – This is calculated as the difference between the due date and the
current date divided by the number of work days remaining. Order with the smallest
CR is run first.

6. Slack Time remaining (STR) – This is calculated as the difference between the time
remaining before the due date minus the processing time remaining. Order with the
shortest STR is selected first.

In addition to the above rules, there are many other priority rules, which may be used
depending upon situation.

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An Example
Out of several priority rules, the most commonly used are FIFO, ADD and SPT rules. We
demonstrate an example with these rules.

FCFS
Job sequence Processing time (days) Due date (days) Flow time (days)
A 3 5 3
B 4 6 7
C 2 7 9
D 6 9 15
E 1 2 16
Total Flow time = 3 + 7 + 9 + 15 + 16 = 50 days
So, mean flow time = 50 / 5 = 10 days

SPT
Job sequence Processing time (days) Due date (days) Flow time (days)
E 1 2 1
C 2 7 3
A 3 5 6
B 4 6 10
D 6 9 16
Total Flow time = 1 + 3 + 6 + 10 + 16 = 36 days
So, mean flow time = 36 / 5 = 7.2 days
EDD
Job sequence Processing time (days) Due date (days) Flow time (days)
E 1 2 1
A 3 5 4
B 4 6 8
C 2 7 10
D 6 9 16
Total Flow time = 1 + 4 + 8 + 10 + 16 = 39 days
So, mean flow time = 39 / 5 = 7.8 days

A summary of the above calculations is given below:

Priority rule Mean flow time (days)

FCFS 10
SPT 7.2
EDD 7.8
So, SPT gives minimum mean flow time.

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Johnson’s rule
Johnson's rule is a method of scheduling many jobs (n jobs) in two work centers (or,
machines). Its primary objective is to find an optimal sequence of jobs to reduce flow time or
makespan (the total amount of time it takes to complete all jobs). It also reduces the amount
of idle time in the system. In brief, this is a method for “Scheduling n Jobs on 2 machines”.

It has the following algorithm:

1. List the operation times for each job on both machines
2. Select the shortest operation time
3. If the shortest time is for the 1st machine, schedule the job first; if it is for the 2nd
machine, schedule the job last.
4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 for each remaining job until all jobs are scheduled.

Example 1

Four Jobs require operations in two machines. Operation times are given:

Job Times (days)

Job Work Center A Work Center B
(Machine 1 (Machine 2)
A 3 2
B 6 8
C 5 6
D 7 4

The following schedule is generated:

Cumulative days
0 5 11 18 21
Work Center A Available for
C B D A
(machine 1) other jobs
Work Center A
Idle C B D A
(machine 2)
0 5 11 19 23 25
Cumulative days

Here, the flow time (makespan) for four jobs, two machines is 25 days, which is minimum.

Johnson’s rule was originally developed for two machines, although it can be extended for 3
machines also.

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