Short-Term Scheduling

Strategic Implications of Scheduling

Short-Term

By scheduling effectively, companies use assets more effectively and create greater capacity per dollar invested, which, in turn, lowers cost This added capacity and related flexibility provides faster delivery and therefore better customer service Good scheduling is a competitive advantage which contributes to dependable delivery

Short-Term Scheduling Examples

Hospital Outpatient treatments Operating rooms University Instructors Classrooms Factory Production Purchases

1984-1994 T/Maker

Forward and Backward Scheduling

Forward scheduling: begins the schedule as soon as the requirements are known

jobs performed to customer order schedule can be accomplished even if due date is missed often causes buildup of WIP

Backward scheduling: begins with the due date of the final operation; schedules jobs in reverse order

used in many manufacturing environments, catering, scheduling surgery

Short-Term Scheduling
Deals with timing of operations Short run focus: Hourly, daily, weekly Types

B
Today

E
Due Date Today

E
Due Date

Forward Scheduling

Backward Scheduling

The Goals of Short-Term Scheduling

Minimize completion time Maximize utilization (make effective use of personnel and equipment) Minimize WIP inventory (keep inventory levels low) Minimize customer wait time

Loading Jobs in Work Centers

Assigning jobs to work centers Considerations Job priority (e.g., due date) Capacity

Work center hours available Hours needed for job

Approaches
Gantt charts (load & scheduling) - capacity Assignment method - job to specific work center

Gantt Load Chart for Week of March 6

Shows relative workload in facility Disadvantages Does not account for unexpected events Must be updated regularly
Day Work Center Metalworks Mechanical Monday Job 349 Job 349 Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Job 350 Job 406 Friday

Electronics
Painting

Job 408
Job 295 Job 408

Job 349
Job 349

Processing

Unscheduled

Center not available (for example, maintenance time, repairs, shortages)

Gantt Scheduling Chart

Job Job A Job B Job C
Maintenance
Nonproduction time

Day S 1

Day 2

Day Day Day Day T W T 3 4 5

Start of an activity

Day F 6

Day S 7

End of an activity Scheduled activity time allowed Actual work progress

Now

Point in time when chart is reviewed

Assignment Method
Assigns tasks or jobs to resources Type of linear programming model

Objective

Minimize total cost, time etc.

1 job per resource (e.g., machine) 1 resource (e.g., machine) per job

Constraints

Johnsons Rule
Used to sequence N jobs through 2 machines in the same order Jobs (N = 3) Saw Drill

Job A Job B Job C

1995 Corel Corp.

1995 Corel Corp.

Johnson's Rule - Scheduling N Jobs on Two Machines

All jobs are to be listed, and the time each requires on a machine shown. Select the job with the shortest activity time. If the shortest time lies with the first machine, the job is scheduled first; if with the second machine, the job is scheduled last.

Once a job is scheduled, eliminate it.

Apply steps 2-3 to the remaining jobs, working toward the center of the sequence.

Johnsons Rule Steps

List jobs & activity times Select job with shortest time Ties? Yes Break arbitrarily Jobs left? No

Machine?

Schedule LAST

1
Schedule FIRST Eliminate job from list No

Stop

Yes

Johnsons Rule - Example

Job
A B

Work Center 1 (Drill Press)

5 3

Work Center 2 (Lathe)

2 6

C
D E

8
10 7

4
7 12

Johnsons Rule - Example

Step 1 A

Step 2
Step 3

B
B C

A
A

Step 4
Step 5

B
B E

D
D

C
C

A
A

Graphical Depiction of Job Flow

Time =>
Work center 1
Work center 2 0 3 10 20 28 33

E
B

D
E
9 10 20 22

C
D
28 29

A
C
33

A
35

Time => 0

E
= Job completed

C A

= Idle

Practice
Job No. WS1 WS2 1 4 7 2 6 3 3 2 3 4 7 7 5 8 6 Find optimal sequence by Johnsons Rule. Total completion time of all jobs and idle time for WS2.