A flow-shop manufacturing scheduling system with interactive computer graphics

The paper describes flow-shop scheduling problems and an interactive graphical flow-shop manufacturing scheduling system developed to handle any number of jobs and machines. It outlines the methodical approach of using scheduling tools, such as lower bound, automatic generation of near-optimal system sequences and schedule optimization in which the user is guided in determining optimal sequence, to cut scheduling time and make the scheduling system flexible. Outputs are in the form of Gantt charts. The graphical capability can be a very useful tool for decision makers such as production and operations managers who often encounter many day-to-day scheduling problems and challenges.