Operation Management

Scheduling
By
Dr. Yousaf Ali khan
Department of Management Sciences
GIKI, Pakistan
• Scheduling is the allocation of resources over time to
perform a collection of tasks
• Resources
Workers, Machines, Tools
• Tasks
Operations that bring some physical changes to material in
order to eventually manufacture products
Setups such as walking to reach the workplace, obtaining
and returning tools, setting the required jigs and fixtures,
positioning and inspecting material, cleaning etc.
 Production
High

Project Systems
Job Shop

Batch
Customization

production

Flow
Shop

Continuous
production

Low
Low High
Volume
 Production
High Aircraft
Project
Custom-made
Systems
machines and
Job Shop parts

Books
Batch
Customization

production

Automobile
Flow
Shop

Oil refinery
Continuous
production

Low
Low High
Volume
 Labor intensive Production
High

Project Systems
Job Shop

Batch
Customization

production

Capital
Flow
Shop intensive

Continuous
production

Low
Low High
Volume
 More frequent Production
High Rescheduling
Project Systems
Job Shop

Batch
Customization

production

Less frequent
Flow
Shop Rescheduling

Continuous
production

Low
Low High
Volume
 Infinite/Finite Scheduling

• Infinite - assumes infinite capacity

– Loads without regard to capacity, levels the
load and sequence jobs
– Job shop/batch production
• Finite - assumes finite (limited) capacity
– Sequences jobs as part of the loading decision,
resources are never loaded beyond capacity
– Flow shop/continuous production
Flow Shop
High-volume manufacturers (e.g. automotive) traditionally use a flow
shop model, with each stage happening in exactly the same order
every time. The key to flow shop scheduling is that the product goes
through each step of the process only once. If the product needs two
drilling operations, for example, you will have two drilling machines.
Job Shops
Most small machine shops deal with high-mix, low-volume products and
often use a job shop model. Machines are grouped by functionality and
the product moves between them as and when they need to, often
passing through the same machine several times before it leaves the
machine shop. Products do follow a "flow" (of sorts) but it is usually
unplanned — or only loosely planned — and it rarely stays consistent.
 Scheduling Job Shop/Batch
Production
• Batch Production
– many planning steps
• aggregate planning
• master scheduling
• material requirements planning (MRP)
• capacity requirements planning (CRP)
• Scheduling determines
– machine/worker/job assignments
– resource/requirement matchings
 Objectives in Scheduling
• Conformance to prescribed deadlines
– Meet customer due dates, minimize job lateness, minimize
maximum lateness, minimize number of tardy jobs
• Response time or lead time
– Minimize mean completion time, minimize average time in
the system
• Efficient utilization of resources
– Maximize machine or labor utilization, minimize idle time,
maximize throughput, minimize the length of time the shop
is open
• Costs
– Minimize work-in-process inventory, minimize overtime
 Responsibilities of Production
Control Department
• Loading
– Allocate orders to workers and machines, worker and
machines to work centers etc.
• Sequencing
– Release work orders to shop & issue dispatch lists for
individual machines
• Monitoring
– Maintain progress reports on each job until it is
complete
 Scheduling
• Scheduling: The allocation of resources over time
to accomplish specific tasks.
• Demand scheduling: A type of scheduling
whereby customers are assigned to a definite time
for order fulfillment.
• Workforce scheduling: A type of scheduling that
determines when employees work.
• Operations scheduling: A type of scheduling in
which jobs are assigned to workstations or
employees are assigned to jobs for specified time
periods.
 Airline scheduling process
• Flight and crew scheduling is a complex process.
• Scheduling begins with a five-year market plan.
• This general plan is further refined to a three-year plan,
and put into an annual budget in which flight segments
have specific departure and arrival times.
• Crew availability must be matched to the flight
schedule. Two types of crews–pilots and attendants–
each comes with its own set of constraints.
• Sophisticated optimization models are used to design
generic minimum-cost schedules.
 Performance Measures
• Job flow time: The amount of time a job spends in the
service or manufacturing system. Also referred to as
throughput time or time spent in the system, including service.
• Makespan: The total amount of time required to complete a
group of jobs.
• Past due (Tardiness): The amount of time by which a job
missed its due date or the percentage of total jobs processed
over some period of time that missed their due dates.
• Work-in-process (WIP) inventory: Any job that is waiting
in line, moving from one operation to the next, being delayed,
being processed, or residing in a semi-finished state.
• Total inventory: The sum of scheduled receipts and on-
hand inventories.
• Utilization: The percentage of work time that is productively
spent by an employee or machine.
 Operations Scheduling
• Operations schedules are short-term plans designed to
implement the master production schedule.
 Operations scheduling focuses on how best to use existing
capacity.
 Often, several jobs must be processed at one or more
workstations. Typically, a variety of tasks can be performed at
each workstation.
• Job shop: A firm that specializes in low- to medium-
volume production and utilizes job or batch processes.
• Flow shop: A firm that specializes in medium- to high-
volume production and utilizes line or continuous
processes.
In flow shop processes, process is set in a linear structure.
Therefore, most of the times the machines necessary to
finish the process are set in a convenient way in order to
minimize idle times. I think that this is convenient when
you have a standardized product. McDonalds could be a
somewhat comparable example.
In the job shop processes, processes are set according to
the functions of various parts of the process. I think that
would be convenient when you cannot standardize your
product to make a assembly like process. For example, a
fine dining restaurant with a changing menu. As a result,
processes in such kitchen are divided into workstations by
functions (e.g. saucier, grill, pastry and other
workstations). This order helps to maintain the variety and
flexibility of a restaurant.
 Job Shop Dispatching
• Dispatching: A method of generating schedules in job shops
whereby the decision about which job to process next is made using
simple priority rules whenever the workstation becomes available
for further processing.
• Priority sequencing rules: The rules that specify the job
processing sequence when several jobs are waiting in line at a
workstation.
• Critical ratio (CR): A ratio that is calculated by dividing the
time remaining until a job’s due date by the total shop time
remaining for the job.
CR = (Due date – Today’s date)/Total shop time remaining
– Total Shop Time = Setup, processing, move, and expected waiting times of
all remaining operations, including the operation being scheduled.
 Sequencing
• Earliest due date (EDD): A priority sequencing rule that specifies
that the job with the earliest due date is the next job to be processed.
• First-come, first-served (FCFS): A priority sequencing rule that
specifies that the job arriving at the workstation first has the highest
priority.
• Shortest processing time (SPT): A priority sequencing rule that
specifies that the job requiring the shortest processing time is the
next job to be processed.
• Slack per remaining operations (S/RO): A priority sequencing
rule that determines priority by dividing the slack (time until due
date minus remaining time to process) by the number of operations
that remain, including the one being scheduled.
S/RO = ((Due date – Today’s date) – Total shop time remaining)
Number of operations remaining
•Rush: Emergency or preferred customers first.
 Scheduling Jobs for
One Workstation
• Single-dimension rules: A set of rules such as FCFS,
EDD, and SPT, that bases the priority of a job on a
single aspect of the job, such as arrival time at the
workstation, the due date, or the processing time.
• Priority rules, such as CR and S/RO, incorporate
information about the remaining workstations at which
the job must be processed. We call these rules multiple-
dimension rules.
• Multiple-dimension rules: A set of rules that apply to
more than one aspect of a job.
 Example
• Processing times (including setup times) and due dates for six jobs waiting
to be processed at a work center are given in the following table. Determine
the sequence of jobs, the average flow time, average tardiness, and average
number of jobs at the work center, for each of these rules:
a. FCFS
b. SPT
c. EDD
d. CR
The results of these four rules are summarized in below Table.
In this example , the SPT rule is the best according to two of the measures of effectiveness
and a little worse than the EDD rule on average tardiness. The CR rule is the worst in every
case. For a different set of numbers, the EDD rule (or perhaps another rule not mentioned
here) might prove superior to SPT in terms of average job tardiness or some other measure
of effectiveness. However, SPT is always superior in terms of minimizing flow time and,
hence, in terms of minimizing the average number of jobs at the work center and completion
time. This results in faster job completion, which has the potential to generate more revenue.
Generally speaking, the FCFS rule and the CR rule turn out to be the least effective of
the rules.
 Slack per operation (S/O)
• Slack per operation (S/O): Jobs are processed according to average
slack time (time until due date minus remaining time to process).
Compute by dividing slack time by number of remaining operations,
including the current one.
• Use the S/O rule to schedule the following jobs. Note that processing time
includes the time remaining for the current and subsequent operations. In
addition, you will need to know the number of operations remaining,
including the current one.
 Quiz/ 10 Marks
The following table contains information concerning four jobs
that are awaiting processing at a work center.
Job Job Time Due Date
A 14 20
B 10 16
C 7 15
D 6 17

(a) Sequence the jobs using (1) FCFS, (2) SPT, (3) EDD, and (4) CR.
Assume the list is by order of arrival.
(b) For each of the methods in part a, determine (1) the average job
flow time, (2) the average tardiness, and (3) the average number of jobs
at the work center.
(c) Is one method superior to the others? Explain.
 Sequencing Jobs through Two Work Centers
• Johnson’s rule is a technique that managers can use to
minimize the makespan for a group of jobs to be
processed on two machines or at two successive work
centers (sometimes referred to as a two-machine flow
shop). It also minimizes the total idle time at the work
centers. For the technique to work, several conditions
must be satisfied:
• Job time (including setup and processing) must be known
and constant for each job at each work center.
• Job times must be independent of the job sequence.
• All jobs must follow the same two-step work sequence.
• A job must be completed at the first work center before the
job moves on to the second work center.
 Johnson’s rule
• Application of Johnson’s rule begins with a listing of all jobs
to be scheduled, and how much time will be required by each
job at each workstation. The sequence is determined by
following these steps:
1. Select the job with the shortest time. If the shortest time is at the first work
center, schedule that job first; if the time is at the second work center,
schedule the job last. Break ties arbitrarily.
2. Eliminate the job and its time from further consideration.
3. Repeat steps
 Example
• A group of six jobs is to be processed through a two-machine flow shop.
The first operation involves cleaning and the second involves painting.
Determine a sequence that will minimize the total completion time for this
group of jobs. Processing times are as follows:
Thus, the group of jobs will take 51 hours to complete.
The second work center will wait two hours for its first
job and also wait two hours after finishing job C.
Center 1 will be finished in 37 hours. Of course, idle
periods at the beginning or end of the sequence could
be used to do other jobs or for maintenance or
setup/teardown activities.
 Quiz
• Five jobs are to be processed on two machines
M1 and M2 in the order M1-M2. processing
time in hours are given below
Job 1 2 3 4 5

M1 5 1 9 3 10

M2 2 6 7 8 4
Processing ‘n’ jobs through 3 machines
 There are only three machines M1, M2, M3 are involved.
 Each job is processed in the prescribed order M1-M2-M3.
 No passing of jobs is permitted.
 The actual or expected processing times on each of the machines for each
job is given.
• The objective here is to obtain the optimal sequence of jobs which
minimizes the total elapsed time.
• Johnson’s algorithm can be extended to ‘n’ machine and 3 machine
provided the following conditions are satisfied.
(a) The smallest processing time on M1 should be greater than or equal to
largest processing time on M2.
(b)Minimum processing time on M3≥Maximum processing time on M2.
If either or both of the above conditions are satisfies, the given problem can
be solved using Johnson’s method
Processing ‘n’ jobs through 3 machines
Procedure:
Step1:Convert the three machine problem in to two machine problem by introducing
two factious machine G and H. such that

Step2:Now the ‘n’ job 3 machines is converted into ‘n’ job 2 machine problem which
can be solved by using Johnson's algorithm to get the optimal sequence.
Step3:For the optimal sequence determined, find out the minimum total elapsed time
and idle times associated with machines.
Tie breaking rules
1: If there are equal smallest times, one for each machine, place the job on machine 1,
first in the sequence and one in machine 2 last in the sequence.
2: If the equal smallest processing times are both for machine 1, select the job with
lower processing time in machine 2 for placing first in the sequence.
3: If the equal smallest times are both for machine 2, select the one with lower
processing time in machine 1, for placing last in the sequence.
Example: seven jobs are to be processed through three machines A, B and C in the sequence ABC. The
processing times are given in hrs to process each one of the jobs through all the three machines. Find the
optimal sequence of the jobs that minimizes the total elapsed time and find idle time associated with
machines Band C. Jobs j1 j2 j3 j4 j5 j6 j7
A 3 8 7 4 9 8 7
B 4 3 2 5 1 4 3
Solution: C 6 7 5 11 5 6 12
Step1: check for the conditions to be satisfied.
Minimum processing time on machine A=3
Minimum processing time on machine C=5
Maximum processing time on machine B=5
Condition1: Minimum processing time on M/A ≥ Max time on B. i.e 3 >5
Condition 1 is not satisfied
Condition2: Min. time on M/C ≥ Max time on M/B. i.e 5 ≥5.
Because condition 2 is satisfied, so the problem can be solved by Johnson’s.
Step2: convert 3 machine 7 job problem into 2 machine 7 job problem by assuming two factious machines G
and H such that and
Jobs G H
The optimal sequence is determined using Johnson’s algorithm
j1 7 10
j2 11 10
j3 9 7 J1 J4 J7 J6 J2 J3 J5

j4 9 16
j5 10 6
j6 12 10
j7 10 15
Minimum processing time is as follows

Optimal Machine A Machine B Machine C Idle time on

sequenc
e Start Finish Start Finish Start Finish B C
J1 0 3 3 7 7 13 3 7
J4 3 7 7 12 13 24 - -
J7 7 14 14 17 24 36 2 -
J6 14 22 22 26 36 42 5 -
J2 22 30 30 33 42 49 4 -
J3 30 37 37 39 49 54 4 -
J5 37 46 46 47 54 59 7 -

Minimum total elapsed time = 59 hrs

Idle time on machine B = 3 +2 + 5 + 4 + 4 + 7=25 hrs
Idle time on machine C = 7 hrs
Processing ‘n’ jobs through ‘m’ machines
Processing ‘n’ jobs through ‘m’ machines
 Scheduling Employees
• In many services (e.g., hospitals, police departments, fire departments,
restaurants, and supermarkets) the scheduling requirements are fairly similar:
Employees must be assigned to work shifts or time slots, and have days off, on
a repeating or cyclical basis. Here is a method for determining both a schedule
and the minimum number of workers needed.
• Generally a basic work pattern is set (e.g., work five consecutive days, have
two consecutive days off ), and a list of staffing needs for the schedule cycle
(usually one week) is given.
• Rotating schedule: A schedule that rotates employees through a series of
workdays or hours.
• Fixed schedule: A schedule that calls for each employee to work the same days
and hours each week.
• Constraints: The technical constraints imposed on the workforce schedule are
the resources provided by the staffing plan and the requirements placed on the
operating system.
– Other constraints, including legal and behavioral considerations, also can be imposed.
 Workforce Scheduling: Example

• The Amalgamated Parcel Service is open 7 days a week. The

schedule of requirements is:
Required employees
Day M T W Th F S Su
Number of employees 6 4 8 9 10 3 2

The manager needs a workforce schedule that provides two consecutive days
off and minimizes the amount of total slack capacity. To break ties in the
selection of off days, the scheduler gives preference to Saturday and Sunday if
it is one of the tied pairs. If not, she selects one of the tied pairs arbitrarily.
 Workforce Scheduling
Steps 1 & 2

Required employees
Day M T W Th F S Su
Number of employees 6 4 8 9 10* 3 2
Employee 1 X X X X X

Step 1. Find all the pairs of consecutive days that exclude the maximum daily
requirements. Select the unique pair that has the lowest total requirements for the 2
days.
Friday contains the maximum requirements (10), and the pair S–Su has the lowest total
requirements. Therefore, Employee 1 is scheduled to work Monday through Friday.
Step 2. If a tie occurs, choose one of the tied pairs or ask the employee to make a
choice.
 Workforce Scheduling
Step 3

Required employees
Day M T W Th F S Su
Number of employees 6 4 8 9 10* 3 2
Employee 1 X X X X X
Requirements 5 3 7 8 9* 3 2
Employee 2 X X X X X

Step 3. Subtract the requirements satisfied by the Employee 1 from the net requirements
for each day the employee is to work and repeat step one.

Again the pair S–Su has the lowest total requirements. Therefore, Employee 2 is
scheduled to work Monday through Friday.
 Workforce Scheduling
Step 4
Required employees
Day M T W Th F S Su
Number of employees 6 4 8 9 10* 3 2
Employee 1 X X X X X
Requirement 5 3 7 8 9* 3 2
Employee 2 X X X X X
Requirement 4 2 6 7 8* 3 2
Employee 3 X X X X X
Requirement 3 1 5 6 7* 3 2
Step 4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 until all the requirements have been satisfied. After
Employees 1, 2, and 3 have reduced the requirements, the pair with the lowest
requirements changes, and Employee 4 will be scheduled for Wednesday through
Sunday.
 Workforce Scheduling
Step 4 continued

Required employees
Day M T W Th F S Su
Number of employees 6 4 8 9 10* 3 2
Employee 1 X X X X X
Requirement 5 3 7 8 9* 3 2
Employee 2 X X X X X
Requirement 4 2 6 7 8* 3 2
Employee 3 X X X X X
Requirement 3 1 5 6 7* 3 2
Employee 4 X X X X X
Requirement 3 1 4 5 6* 2 1
Employee 5 X X X X X
 Workforce Scheduling
Step 4 continued

Required employees
Day M T W Th F S Su
Requirement 2 0 3 4 5* 2 1
Employee 6 X X X X X
Requirement 2 0 2 3 4* 1 0
Employee 7 X X X X X
Requirement 1 0 1 2 3* 1 0
Employee 8 X X X X X
Requirement 0 0 0 1 2* 1 0
Employee 9 X X X X X
Requirement 0 0 0 0 1* 0 0
Employee 10 X X X X X
 Workforce Scheduling

Final Schedule
Day M T W Th F S Su
Employee 1 X X X X X off off
Employee 2 X X X X X off off
Employee 3 X X X X X off off
Employee 4 off off X X X X X
Employee 5 X X X X X off off
Employee 6 off off X X X X X
Employee 7 X X X X X off off
Employee 8 X X X X X off off
Employee 9 off X X X X X off
Employee 10 X X X X X off off
 Workforce Scheduling
Final Schedule

Final Schedule M T W Th F S Su

Employee 1 X X X X X off off

Employee 2 X X X X X off off
Employee 3 X X X X X off off
Employee 4 off off X X X X X
Employee 5 X X X X X off off
Employee 6 off off X X X X X
Employee 7 X X X X X off off
Employee 8 X X X X X off off
Employee 9 off X X X X X off
Employee 10 X X X X X off off

Total
Capacity, C 7 8 10 10 10 3 2 50
Requirements, R 6 4 8 9 10 3 2 42
Slack, C – R 1 4 2 1 0 0 0 8
 Quiz

• The Food Bin grocery store operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
At the end of the month, they calculated the average number of checkout
registers that should be open during the first shift each day. Results
showed peak needs on Saturdays and Sundays.

1. Develop a schedule that covers all requirements while giving two consecutive days
off to each clerk. How many clerks are needed?
2. Plans can be made to use the clerks for other duties if slack or idle time resulting
from this schedule can be determined. How much idle time will result from this
schedule, and on what days?
 Sequencing Jobs When Setup Times
Are Sequence-Dependent
• The preceding discussion and examples assumed that machine setup times
are independent of processing order, but in many instances that assumption
is not true. Consequently, a manager may want to schedule jobs at a
workstation taking those dependencies into account. The goal is to
minimize total setup time.
• Consider the following table, which shows workstation machine setup times based
on job processing order. For example, if job A is followed by job B, the setup time
for B will be six hours. Furthermore, if job A is completed first, followed by job B,
job C will then follow job B and have a setup time of four hours. If a job is done
first, its setup time will be the amount shown in the setup time column to the right
of the job. Thus, if job A is done first, its setup time will be three hours.
The simplest way to determine which sequence will result in the lowest total setup time
is to list each possible sequence and determine its total setup time. In general, the number
of different alternatives is equal to n!, where n is the number of jobs. Here, n is 3, so
n! = 3 ×2 ×1 = 6. The six alternatives and their total setup times are as follows:

Hence, to minimize total setup time, the manager would select sequence B-A-C. This
procedure is relatively simple to do manually when the number of jobs is two or three.
However, as the number of jobs increases, the list of alternatives quickly becomes larger.
For example, six jobs would have 720 alternatives. In such instances, a manager would
employ a computer to generate the list and identify the best alternative(s). (Note that
more than one alternative may be tied for the lowest setup time.)