In semi-automated workshops producing small or medium runs, the human
factor plays a preeminent role in the decision making process. A compu
terized management is sought nonetheless, considering the great number
of items to maintain. In this context, classical scheduling tools usi
ng optimization techniques are not flexible enough to provide a feasib
le plan. Cooperative scheduling, which means a collaboration between a
human operator and a system, constitutes a promising alternative for
managing production. In this paper, the authors present a methodology
to implement cooperative scheduling. It is based on the converging of
a top-down approach to functional design and a bottom-up approach to t
he cognitive design of human-computer interaction. The top-down approa
ch relies on a constraint-based analysis that aims at providing a set
of feasible schedules for decision making. The bottom-up approach cons
ists of a knowledge acquisition phase, essentially using brainwriting
techniques. An industrial application in an aircraft company has been
investigated. The emphasis is on the processing-order release function
in a hanging shop which resulted, through constraint logic programmin
g, in a mock-up of a cooperative system.