Abstract
Most job shops in practice are constrained by both machine and labor availability. Worker assignment in these so-called Dual Resource Constrained (DRC) job shops is typically solved in the literature via the use of meta-heuristics, i.e. “when” and “where” rules, or heuristic assignment rules. While the former does not necessarily lead to optimal results, the latter suffers from high computational time and complexity, especially when there is a large number of workstations. This paper uses game theory to propose a new worker assignment rule for DRC job shops. The Gale-Shapley model (also known as the stable marriage problem) forms a ‘couple’ made up of a worker and machine following a periodic review strategy. Simulation is used to evaluate and compare the proposed model to “when” and “where” rules previously proposed in the literature. Simulation experiments under different conditions demonstrate that the Gale-Shapley model provides better results for worker assignments in complex DRC systems, particularly when the workers have different efficiency levels. The implications of the findings for research and practice are outlined.
Highlights
In recent years, the rapid introduction of new products with shorter life cycles have required shops to adapt to rapid changes in the product mix and have driven firms towards adopting more flexible and customized job shop manufacturing systems
Manufacturing systems constrained by machine capacity and labor capacity are known as Dual Resource Constraint (DRC) shops
A broad literature on Dual Resource Constrained (DRC) shops exists, the application of game theory has not been investigated in this context
Summary
The rapid introduction of new products with shorter life cycles have required shops to adapt to rapid changes in the product mix and have driven firms towards adopting more flexible and customized job shop manufacturing systems. Job shop manufacturing systems have been widely investigated in the extant literature, but the majority of this research has considered only a single capacity constraint, i.e. based on the availability of machines only. In practice these manufacturing systems are typically constrained by two elements, i.e. by both machines and workers (Patel, 1997). These manufacturing systems are typically constrained by two elements, i.e. by both machines and workers (Patel, 1997) These so-called Dual Resource Constrained (DRC) systems have received limited attention in the literature, where a job can only be processed if both a machine and a skilled worker is available. Since the number of workers is normally less than the number of machines, worker reallocations amongst the machines are necessary
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