Workload control in job shops with re-entrant flows: an assessment by simulation

One of the key functions of Workload Control is order release. Jobs are not released immediately onto the shop floor – they are withheld and selectively released to create a mix of jobs that keeps work-in-process within limits and meet due dates. A recent implementation of Workload Control’s release method highlighted an important issue thus far overlooked by research: How to accommodate re-entrant flows, whereby a station is visited multiple times by the same job? We present the first study to compare the performance of Workload Control both with and without re-entrant flows. Simulation results from a job shop model highlight two important aspects: (i) re-entrant flows increase variability in the work arriving at a station, leading to a direct detrimental effect on performance; (ii) re-entrant flows affect the release decision-making process since the load contribution of all visits by a job to a station has to fit within the norm. Both aspects have implications for practice and our interpretation of previous research since: (i) parameters given for work arriving may significantly differ from those realised; (ii) increased workload contributions at release mean that prior simulations may have been unstable, leading to some jobs never being released.     

The application of workload control in assembly job shops: an assessment by simulation

Workload control (WLC) is a production planning and control concept developed to meet the needs of small- and medium-sized make-to-order companies, where a job shop configuration is common. Although simulation has shown WLC can improve job shop performance, field researchers have encountered significant implementation challenges. One of the most notable challenges is the presence of ‘assembly job shops’ where product structures are more complex than typically modelled in simulation and where the final product consists of several sub-assemblies (or work orders) which have to be co-ordinated. WLC theory has not been developed sufficiently to handle such contexts, and the available literature on assembly job shops is limited. In response, this paper extends the applicability of WLC to assembly job shops by determining the best combination of: (i) WLC due date (DD) setting policy, (ii) release method and (iii) policy for coordinating the progress of work orders. When DDs are predominantly set by the company, the DD setting policy should play the leading role while the role of order release should be limited and the progress of work orders should not be co-ordinated in accordance with the DD of the final product. But when DDs are predominantly specified by customers, the importance of order release as a second workload balancing mechanism increases and work orders should be coordinated by backward scheduling from the DD of the final product. Results indicate that WLC can improve performance in assembly job shops and outperform alternative control policies. Future research should implement these findings in practice.     

On the combined effect of due date setting,order release,and output control: an assessment by simulation

Workload Control is a production control concept for high-variety shops built on the principle of input/output control. The literature, however, has argued that input/output control overemphasises throughput improvements to the detriment of the timing of individual orders and, consequently, that it needs to be supplemented by a preceding customer enquiry stage where due dates are set. Yet, although there are broad separate literature streams on due date setting, order release, and output control, there is a lack of research on the three functions together. In response, this study uses simulation to assess the combined performance effect of all three functions. Results show that each control function can be related to a specific performance objective. The degree of emphasis that should be placed on each function, therefore, depends on a company’s specific performance needs. Due date setting and capacity adjustments (output control) are shown to support each other as they address different performance objectives. Meanwhile, order release (input control) is effective in reducing work-in-process and can play a role in making throughput improvements when capacity adjustments are not possible. Findings enhance existing literature on the diagnosis of delivery reliability performance in high-variety shops, with important implications for research and practice.     

Workload control and optimised order release: an assessment by simulation

An important scheduling function of manufacturing systems is controlled order release. While there exists a broad literature on order release, reported release procedures typically use simple sequencing rules and greedy heuristics to determine which jobs to select for release. While this is appealing due to its simplicity, its adequateness has recently been questioned. In response, this study uses an integer linear programming model to select orders for release to the shop floor. Using simulation, we show that optimisation has the potential to improve performance compared to ‘classical’ release based on pool sequencing rules. However, in order to also outperform more powerful pool sequencing rules, load balancing and timing must be considered at release. Existing optimisation-based release methods emphasise load balancing in periods when jobs are on time. In line with recent advances in Workload Control theory, we show that a better percentage tardy performance can be achieved by only emphasising load balancing when many jobs are urgent. However, counterintuitively, emphasising urgency in underload periods leads to higher mean tardiness. Compared to previous literature we further highlight that continuous optimisation-based release outperforms periodic optimisation-based release. This has important implications on how optimised-based release should be designed.     

Continuous workload control order release revisited: an assessment by simulation

Order release is a key component of the Workload Control concept. Jobs do not enter the shop floor directly – they are retained in a pre-shop pool and released in time to meet due dates while keeping work-in-process within limits or norms. There are two important groups of release methods: continuous methods, for which the workload falling to a specified level can trigger a release at any moment in time; and, periodic release methods, for which releases take place at fixed intervals. Continuous release methods in general have been shown to outperform periodic release methods. Yet, there is incongruence in the results presented in the literature on the relative performance of the various continuous release methods. We use a job shop simulation model to examine the performance of continuous release methods from the literature and find that the contradictory results are explained by the different rules applied to sequence jobs in the pool – a factor neglected in previous work. Finally, a new breed of continuous release methods has recently emerged, but these have not been compared with prior approaches. Therefore, we also examine these methods and show that they significantly improve overall performance, although this is to the detriment of jobs with large processing times.     

Job sequencing and selection within workload control order release: an assessment by simulation

Recent research has highlighted the potential impact of pool sequencing on order release performance but it suffered from two shortcomings. First, arguably the best release solution for workload control in practice combines periodic with continuous release. Although the two types of releases serve different functions, recent work assumed the same sequencing rule should be used for both. Here, the use of different sequencing rules for periodic and continuous releases is evaluated. Using a job-shop simulation, we demonstrate that the rule applied during continuous releases has only a negligible impact on performance. Therefore, jobs can be pulled intermediately from the pool by workers using a more straightforward sequencing rule than the one applied for periodic release. Second, it was assumed that all jobs in the pool are sequenced and then a subset is selected for release. But for some load-oriented sequencing rules, the priority value used for sequencing jobs should be updated after each job selection from the pool. Our simulation results show that although this may improve load balancing at release, it does not in fact improve overall shop performance. Therefore, the greedy heuristic of first sequencing and then selecting jobs can be maintained, which allows the release decision-making process to retain its simplicity. The work has important implications for the use of sequencing rules in practice.     

Variable neighbourhood search for dual-resource constrained flexible job shop scheduling

Dual-resource constrained flexible job shop scheduling problem (FJSP) is considered and an effective variable neighbourhood search (VNS) is presented, in which the solution to the problem is indicated as a quadruple string of the ordered operations and their resources. Two neighbourhood search procedures are sequentially executed to produce new solutions for two sub-problems of the problem, respectively. The search of VNS is restarted from a slightly perturbed version of the current solution of VNS when the determined number of iterations is reached. VNS is tested on some instances and compared with methods from literature. Computational results show the significant advantage of VNS on the problem.     

Comparison between rule- and optimization-based workload control concepts: a simulation optimization approach

An important goal of Production Planning and Control systems is to achieve short and predictable flow times, especially where high flexibility in meeting customer demand is required, while maintaining high output and due-date performance. One approach to this problem is the workload control (WLC) concept. Within WLC research two directions have been developed, largely separately, over time: Rule based and optimisation-based models. If a company intends to introduce an order release concept based on WLC it first has to decide which of these two approaches should be applied. Therefore, this paper compares two of the most widely used and considered best performing periodic order release models out of both streams: the LUMS (rule based) and the clearing function model (optimisation based). The parameters of both approaches are set using simulation optimisation. The performance is compared using a simulation study of a hypothetical job shop in a rolling horizon setting. The results show that the optimisation model outperforms the rule-based mechanism in all instances with stochastic demand (exponential inter-arrival times), but is outperformed in aggregate cost of backorders and inventory holding and balancing measures by the LUMS approach for scenarios with high utilisation and seasonal demand.     

Workload control in unbalanced job shops

Workload control (WLC) has been developed as a production planning and control approach for job shop manufacturing. By balancing loads across work centres, WLC anticipates the fact that multiple work centres may become potential bottlenecks in the short term. This approach is generally tested in job shop models that assume equal utilisation levels for all work centres, which will create maximum bottleneck shiftiness. However, job shop practice clearly shows differences in utilisation levels, which means that some work centres can be seen as non-bottlenecks, having protective capacity. This study investigates the effect of different levels of protective capacity on the performance of state-of-the-art WLC release methods. More in detail, it shows how the level of protective capacity interacts with the influence of workload norms at work centres. Despite the fact that WLC has been developed for highly balanced utilisations, results indicate that WLC could also be effective in unbalanced situations. However, norm setting requires careful attention. Disregarding the norms of non-bottleneck work centres, a common sense approach, might strongly deteriorate performance when the level of protective capacity is not sufficiently high. Contrarily, tighter norms for non-bottleneck work centres are shown to perform better in this situation.     

The performance of Due Date setting rules in assembly and multi-stage job shops: an assessment by simulation

Setting short yet reliable Due Dates (DDs) is an important early production planning and control task. The majority of job-shop research on DD setting assumes simple product structures without assembly operations. However, in practice, product structures are often complex, and multiple final assembly operations may be required. This paper evaluates the performance of DD setting rules in the context of complex product structures, considering two scenarios: two-level assembly job shops, where orders converge on one final assembly operation; and two-level multi-stage job shops, where a series of assembly operations are undertaken. New rules are proposed which are substantially simpler and more suitable for practical use than those in the literature. These rules are only outperformed by a more sophisticated rule from the wider literature, newly introduced into the context of assembly and multi-stage job shops. Which rule to apply in practice depends on whether a manager considers the improvement in performance more important than the loss of simplicity. Future research should investigate how jobs can be planned and controlled effectively when some or all DDs are set externally by customers rather than internally using a DD setting rule.     

Handling the complexities of real-life job shops when implementing workload control: a decision framework and case study

The workload control literature highlights the importance of balancing the shop floor workload, but also acknowledges that this can conflict with processing the most urgent orders – hence, there is a trade-off. In practice, shops contain many complexities, e.g. simultaneous batching and sequence-dependent set-up times that may conflict with processing the most urgent orders and require other solutions than workload balancing to avoid capacity losses. This adds to the trade-off dilemma, which traditionally only considers timing and balancing. This paper develops a framework that determines whether to address a complexity through order release or dispatching. It comprises two dimensions: (i) the typical position of a complexity in the routing of an order and (ii) the criticality of the complexity. A case study is presented, which demonstrates the framework’s utility and illustrates the development of specific solutions designed to handle the complexities. Most complexities present in the case require handling at the order release stage. The challenges of handling multiple complexities at this decision level are evaluated. Finally, the implications for managers and future research are outlined.     

The use of finite loading to guide short-term capacity adjustments in make-to-order job shops: an assessment by simulation

Although there is a broad literature on capacity management, there has been only limited attention on how to support short-term capacity control decisions, especially in high-variety make-to-order shops. While finite loading has been identified as a potential means of guiding capacity adjustments, the actual performance impact of this solution has not been adequately assessed. Using a simulation model of a make-to-order job shop, we compare the performance impact of four different forward and backward finite loading methods and a load trigger method recently presented in the literature. Results confirm the potential of finite loading to improve performance when compared to a general capacity increase. Yet all four methods are outperformed by the load trigger method. The capacity adjustments made under finite loading methods are determined by individual jobs and their properties. This may lead to no adjustments despite an overload period (e.g. if a job has a long due date but only one overload station in its routing) or to unnecessary adjustments when there is no overload (e.g. if a large job has a tight due date). This finding draws into question the use of finite loading altogether and reinforces the importance of the load trigger method.     

Improving the applicability of workload control (WLC): the influence of sequence-dependent set-up times on workload controlled job shops

Simulation has demonstrated that the workload control (WLC) concept can improve performance in job shops, but positive empirical results are scarce. A key reason for this is that the concept has not been developed to handle a number of practical considerations, including sequence-dependent set-up times. This paper investigates the influence of sequence-dependent set-up times on the performance of a workload-controlled job shop. It introduces new set-up-oriented dispatching rules and assesses the performance impact of controlled order release. Simulation results demonstrate that combining an effective WLC order release rule with an appropriate dispatching rule improves performance over use of a dispatching rule in isolation when set-up times are sequence dependent. The findings improve our understanding of how this key implementation challenge can be overcome. Future research should investigate whether the results hold if set-up time parameters are dynamic and set-up times are not evenly distributed across resources.     

On the backlog-sequencing decision for extending the applicability of ConWIP to high-variety contexts: an assessment by simulation

Constant Work-in-Process (ConWIP) is a card-based control system that was developed for simple flow shops – a lack of load-balancing capabilities hinders its application to more complex shops. In contrast, load balancing is an integral part of Workload Control, a production planning and control concept developed for high-variety environments. One means of load balancing evident in the Workload Control literature is through the use of a capacity slack-based backlog-sequencing rule. This study therefore investigates the potential of the backlog-sequencing decision to improve load balancing in the context of ConWIP, thereby making it suitable for more complex, high-variety environments. Using simulation, we demonstrate that: (i) the choice of backlog-sequencing rule significantly impacts throughput times and tardiness-related performance measures; and (ii) capacity slack-based sequencing rules achieve significant performance improvements over ‘classical’ ConWIP backlog-sequencing rules. These results significantly extend the applicability of ConWIP. Results from the Workload Control literature however do not directly translate across to ConWIP. The simplified release procedure of ConWIP makes backlog-sequencing based on planned release dates dysfunctional. This negatively impacts the performance of modified capacity slack-based sequencing rules that were recently shown to be the best choice for Workload Control.     

Using the when/where rules in dual resource constrained systems for a hybrid push-pull control

This paper proposes a production control system, DRC-HPP, which uses the when/where rules in dual resource constrained (DRC) systems for a hybrid push-pull (HPP) control, to overcome some difficulties in modelling/implementing DRC/Kanban systems. These rules and the novel ‘process-or-transport’ and ‘whereto’ rules are embedded in some policies workers use to decide when to process (transport) parts, and where (whereto). Unlike most control systems, in which a group of workers is always responsible for transporting and another group is always responsible for processing parts, workers in DRC-HPP are responsible for both transporting and processing parts, as in the Toyota Sewn Products Management System (TSS). Yet, unlike TSS, DRC-HPP can be applied in any layout type. Workers transport parts when they are idle in part processing to enhance their utilisations and synchronise transportation. Since the transportation does not require special worker skills, the cost of training workers is not incurred. DRC-HPP is compared with different benchmarks through simulation experiments to evaluate its performance. It performs well under relatively short transportation times with respect to processing times. If they are relatively longer, the issue becomes to determine the number of workers to achieve a performance level. DRC-HPP also facilitates bottleneck management.     

Centralised vs. decentralised control decision in card-based control systems: comparing kanban systems and COBACABANA

Kanban systems are simple yet effective means of controlling production. Production control is decentralised or exercised locally on the shop floor, i.e. a downstream station signals to an upstream station that an item is needed. If items are always the same and known, then demands can be satisfied instantaneously from stock; but if items differ and are unknown, demands must first be propagated backwards from station to station before being satisfied. The former is defined as an inventory control problem and the latter as an order control problem. Handling the order control problem via kanban involves a decentralised card acquisition process (during which information is propagated from station to station) that is separated from the actual production process. COBACABANA (control of balance by card-based navigation), an alternative card-based solution, shares kanban’s control structure but centralises the card acquisition process. Evaluating the two systems therefore provides a unique opportunity to compare decentralised and centralised control. Using simulation, we demonstrate that it is specifically the centralised card acquisition process that allows COBACABANA to balance the workload across resources and thus to outperform kanban in an order control problem. This has major implications for research and practice.     

Card-based delivery date promising in pure flow shops with order release control

Card-based systems are simple, effective means of controlling production. Yet most systems concentrate on controlling the shop floor. They neglect other planning tasks, like estimating short, feasible due dates during customer enquiry management. A card-based version of the workload control concept for job shops – COBACABANA (COntrol of BAlance by CArd-BAsed Navigation) – was proposed in the literature to overcome this shortcoming. COBACABANA uses cards for due date setting and order release, making it a potentially important solution for small shops with limited resources. But many such firms operate as flow shops rather than job shops. Research demonstrated that COBACABANA’s release mechanism must be adapted if applied to a pure flow shop, but its approach to due date setting has not been evaluated in such an environment. We show COBACABANA has the potential to improve pure flow shop performance, but its due date setting procedure should be adapted compared to job shops. In a flow shop, due date estimation can also be further simplified by considering the load awaiting release to the first (gateway) station only while maintaining most performance benefits. The results are important for all card-based systems that aim to stabilise work-in-process, including kanban and ConWIP (Constant Work-in-Process).     

Scheduling in production,supply chain and Industry 4.0 systems by optimal control: fundamentals,state-of-the-art and applications

This paper presents a survey on the applications of optimal control to scheduling in production, supply chain and Industry 4.0 systems with a focus on the deterministic maximum principle. The first objective is to derive major contributions, application areas, limitations, as well as research and application recommendations for the future research. The second objective is to explain control engineering models in terms of industrial engineering and production management. To achieve these objectives, optimal control models, qualitative methods of performance analysis and computational methods for optimal control are considered. We provide a brief historic overview and clarify major mathematical fundamentals whereby the control engineering terms are brought into correspondence with industrial engineering and management. The survey allows the grouping of models with only terminal constraints with application to master production scheduling, models with hybrid terminal–logical constraints with applications to short term job and flow shop scheduling, and hybrid structural–terminal–logical constraints with applications to customised assembly systems such as Industry 4.0. Computational algorithms in state, control and adjoint variable spaces are discussed.     

Successful implementation of an order release mechanism based on workload control: a case study of a make-to-stock manufacturer

This paper deals with improving the lead-time performance of a large crystal manufacturer that uses a state-of-the-art commercial Enterprise Resource Planning system. Since the company encountered some limitations of the standard production planning and control (PPC) system it sought for improvements by implementing an order release mechanism based on workload control (WLC). WLC employs certain rules for releasing orders in order to maintain a certain level of work in process to achieve a certain utilisation of the production system and thus control the flow times in order to meet the required due dates of the orders. We describe the successful implementation of an order release mechanism based on the WLC concept in this make-to-stock company. The paper describes the implemented order release mechanism, the implementation process and its impact on the company’s performance. We show that the core function of WLC – the order release mechanism – can be integrated successfully into an existing PPC system. Furthermore, this study highlights the applicability of WLC to a wider range of companies, especially to make-to-stock manufacturers.     

Optimal inventory control with sequential online auction in agriculture supply chain: an agent-based simulation optimisation approach

With the development of e-commerce, in agriculture supply chain, online auction is adopted as an inventory clearing tool. Comparing to mathematical models studying inventory control over online sequential auctions, our agent-based simulation model could systematically describe the complexities of bidders’ information interactions and behaviour preferences caused from financial and production perspectives, and by other supply chain members. In addition, we take into account the complex and dynamic market environment, which will impact the operation effect of auction policies. With identical auction items, the profit-maximising firm must decide auction lot-size, which is the number of units in each auction, minimum initial bid, and the time interval between auctions. To obtain the optimal solution, nested partitions framework and optimal expected opportunity cost algorithm are integrated to improve computation accuracy and efficiency. A case study based on real data is conducted to implement and validate the proposed approach. Furthermore, based on the model, the paper studies the sensitivities of the decision variables under different supply and demand scenarios.