Robust deterministic scheduling in stochastic environments: The method of capacity hedge points

Current production scheduling strategies are often rigorous in determining an optimal schedule while assuming a static environment. Ignoring the typically dynamic nature of the shop floor requires frequent rescheduling, as the schedules quickly become infeasible. This frequent rescheduling, known as scheduling nervousness, makes projecting accurate customer order promise dates difficult. This paper presents a new scheduling technique based on past machine performance to maintain a stable schedule. This strategy reduces the need for frequent rescheduling, therefore generating reliable customer order promise dates.