OPERATIONS SCHEDULING

Scheduling
Business plan is transformed into a Master
production plan;
Master production schedule (MPS) derive
resource requirements and check availability of :
- Labour, skills/numbers,
- Plant & machinery,
- Finance,
- Utilities and services,
and decide and/or agree on the plan.

Scheduling
Within an organization, scheduling pertains to
establishing the timing of the use of specific resources
of that organization;

It relates to the use of equipment, facilities and

human activities;

For example, manufacturer must schedule

productions, hospitals must schedule admission,
surgery, etc., and educational institutions must
schedule classrooms, instructions, etc.;

In the decision making hierarchy, scheduling

decisions are the final step in the transformation
process before actual output occurs.

Scheduling
Operations scheduling is at the heart of what is
currently referred to as Manufacturing Executions
systems (MES);

A MES is an information system that schedules,

dispatches, tracks, monitors, and control production
on the factory floor;

A work center is an area in a business in which

productive resources are organized & work is
completed;

The work center may be a single machine, a group of

machines, or an area where a particular type of work
is done.

Goals of Scheduling
Efficient utilization
staff
equipment
facilities

Minimization of
customer waiting time
inventories
processing time

Scheduling of operations depends on the type

of operations

Manufacturing Operations
High-volume
Intermediate-volume
Low-volume

Service Operations

Scheduling of High-Volume Systems

Flow systems
high-volume systems (i.e. repetitive systems)
standardized equipment and activities
identical or highly similar operations on products

Flow-shop scheduling
Scheduling for high-volume flow system

Work Center #1

Work Center #2

Output

Scheduling of Low-Volume Systems

Job Shops
products are made to order
orders differ considerably in their processing
requirements

Job-shop scheduling
Scheduling for low-volume systems with many
variations in requirements

Loading - assignment of jobs to process centers

Sequencing - determining the order in which jobs
will be processed

Typical Scheduling & Control functions

Allocating orders, equipment, & personnel to
workers or other specified locations (Loading);
Determining the sequence of order performance
(Sequencing job priorities);
Initiating performance of the scheduled work
(Dispatching);
Shop floor control involving ( Expediting or Follow
up) :
a) Reviewing the status & controlling the progress,
b) Expediting late & critical orders.

Loading involves assigning jobs to

processing centers
Approaches to loading
Infinite loading
assigns jobs to work centers without regard to the
capacity of the work center,
possible to overload (exceed capacity) in some periods
and under load in other periods.

Finite loading
capacity is not exceeded.
takes into account capacity of each work center and
processing times of jobs; projects actual job start and
stop times.

Scheduling involves assigning start times to

jobs at processing centers
Approaches to scheduling
Forward scheduling
scheduling ahead from a point in time (e.g.,
now)
useful to answer the question How long will it
take to complete this job?

Backward scheduling
scheduling backward from a future due date
useful to answer the questions:
Can we complete this job in time?
When is the latest we can start this job and still
complete it by the due date?

Sequencing involves ordering the processing

of jobs
Sequencing
Determine the order in which jobs at a work
center will be processed.
Results in an ordered list of jobs

Sequencing is most beneficial when we have

constrained capacity (fixed machine set; cannot
buy more) and heavily loaded work centers
Lightly loaded work centers = no big deal (excess
capacity)
Heavily loaded
Want to make the best use of available capacity
Want to minimize unused time at each machine as much
as possible

Sequencing
Priority rules
Simple heuristics
used to select the order in
which jobs will be processed.

Why use simple heuristics?

Problem too complex = linear programming
wont work
Sequencing jobs often does quite well

Scheduling Service
Operations

Problems in Service Operations make

scheduling even more difficult
Cannot store or inventory services.
Customer service requests are random.
Scheduling service involves:
Customers,
Workforce,
Equipment.

Service Operations use many scheduling

tools to ensure good service
Appointment systems
Controls customer arrivals for service.

Reservation systems
Estimates demand for service,
Prices according to demand
Schedules use of service.

Scheduling the workforce

Manages worker capacity for service.

Scheduling multiple resources

Coordinates use of more than one resource.

Cyclical Scheduling is used in services

with similar, repeating requirements

Hospitals, police/fire departments,

restaurants, supermarkets.
Rotating schedules

Set a scheduling horizon,

Identify the work pattern,
Develop a basic employee schedule,
Assign employees to the schedule.