WORKLOAD SMOOTHING IN A BOTTLENECK JOB-SHOP

Examines the planning and scheduling systems in an integrative framewo rk for a dual resource constrained (DRC) job shop. Models a bottleneck shop environment which represents a common situation in practice. Res earch on workload smoothing mechanisms which integrate the planning an d scheduling systems is sparse. Simulates 13 smoothing rules (utilizin g aggregate workload and bottleneck information), three despatching ru les and two order review/release rules. The results of this study indi cate that workload smoothing by the planning system has a significant effect on the performance of the DRC job shop. Pulling work ahead in v alley periods improved the tardy measures of performance, while pushin g jobs back in peak periods usually deteriorated shop performance. Sug gests that combining a planning system effectively with order review/r elease can improve mean tardiness, percentage tardy and mean flowtime measures of performance.