| Article ID: | iaor19941498 |
| Country: | United States |
| Volume: | 41 |
| Issue: | 4 |
| Start Page Number: | 641 |
| End Page Number: | 648 |
| Publication Date: | Jul 1993 |
| Journal: | Operations Research |
| Authors: | Pinedo Michael, Adler Leonard, Fraiman Nelson, Kobacker Edward, Plotnicoff Juan Carlos, Wu Tso Pang |
| Keywords: | production: FMS, information |
This paper describes a scheduling support system for plants that produce multiply paper bags. The machine environment in these plants may be described as a flexible flow shop. That is, there are a number of stages in series with a number of machines in parallel at each stage. The jobs have specified shipping dates as well as priorities; their processing times and setup times are known in advance. The authors developed a five-step algorithm that schedules all the jobs at the various stages. This algorithm has been incorporated in a system, the Bagpak Production Scheduling System, which also contain a data base management module and a user interface module. The system has been implemented in two plants, and is used on a regular basis. It has increased considerably the accuracy of the available information regarding the production process. The scheduler, in conjunction with the system, is able to produce better schedules and now always knows where given performance measures stand. In addition, the available information enables the scheduler to provide better service to customers.