A Comparative Analysis of Master Production Scheduling Techniques for Assemble‐To‐Order Products

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper studies the master production scheduling (MPS) activity of manufacturing firms that produce assemble‐to‐order (ATO) products. It describes four techniques for master scheduling ATO products: end‐product bills, modular bills, super bills, and percentage bills. These procedures are compared in terms of the percentage of customer orders delivered late, the mean tardiness of customer order deliveries, and the total cost of inventory using simulation analysis. The results indicate that the performance of an MPS technique is affected by the level of uncertainty of the end products' demands and the degree of component commonality in the product structure. In particular, modular bills produce the highest customer service level and super bills produce the lowest total inventory cost under most operating conditions. The conclusions also suggest that the choice of a particular MPS technique is often a compromise between the benefits of improved MPS performance and the costs of implementing and executing the MPS system.