Scheduling and order release in a single-stage production system

Abstract

We develop a set of scheduling heuristics that integrate order release, group scheduling, and order sequencing for a make-to-order manufacturing facility organized into group technology cells. The procedures take into account both order due dates and sequence-dependent setup times. Simulation experiments are used to compare the performance of the procedures to current practice. Results show that the new scheduling policies, which consider setup times as well as due dates in both order release and job sequencing decisions, substantially improve due date performance and show that both order release policies and dispatching rules have significant effects on system performance.