SCHEDULING FOR MACHINING AND ASSEMBLY IN A JOB-SHOP ENVIRONMENT

The problem of scheduling n assembly jobs in a job-shop environment is addressed. Each job is characterized by multiple parts that must them selves be scheduled for processing through the shop. The individual pa rts combine at assembly stations to form sub-assemblies or final assem blies. Sub-assemblies combine with other sub-assemblies to form final assemblies. The objective pursued in the developed model is to maximiz e the machine utilization subject to satisfying job due date requireme nts. Essentially, one must consider machine availability, the amount o f work on each machine for each operation, the precedence constraints, and the dispatching criteria to perform scheduling in this kind of en vironment. A heuristic algorithm is developed to solve the problem. Th e application of the algorithm is demonstrated with an example problem .