Impact of real-time information for scheduling a car-body shop-A simulation study

In a system where two material flows with sequence dependency are matched, the use of real-time information to monitor and control the sequencing buffer improves the system’s ability to schedule many different models, compared with a system with no information at all. In the latter case, the system is upset considerably when more than four different models enter the system. Shows how the performance of a car-body shop is affected when real-time information about progress in sub-systems is available to the scheduler. A case study at a car plant and a simulation study were carried out.