A heuristic job scheduling decision support system: A case study

The daily activity of establishing a job assignment schedule for each individual employee in a manufacturing setting can be quite a complex management task. Work rules, special work load requirements and absenteeism all act to compound the scheduling activity. Many organizations have tried to solve their scheduling problems by developing software systems to handle their daily scheduling decision making. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a unique heuristic-based scheduling software system. The scheduling system is presented in the context of a real world case study for a major US manufacturer who sponsored the scheduling system's development.