Cyclic Assembly Schedules

Cyclic assembly schedules are schedules which follow a repeating production pattern. Each component is produced at times that are integer multiples of the base planning period of the finished product. These schedules have the managerial advantages of ease of control and planning, since future production follows a familiar, repeating pattern. Establishing and maintaining such a schedule requires a system to protect the schedule when bottlenecks occur. This paper discusses some of these issues and describes a simple method for calculating the optimal parameters of a cyclic schedule in a multistage assembly operation when production intervals are power-of-two multiples of a base period specified by management. The cycles are based on an Economic Order Quantity analysis, which is applicable if demand for the end items is fairly steady as in the case of a facility that supplies components to an assembly line.