The impact of parameters setting in load oriented manufacturing control

One of the most successful Order Review and Release techniques proposed in literature in recent years is Bechte's Load Oriented Manufacturing Control. In order to use such a procedure, three types of parameters have to be set: a Load Limit for each workcentre, the Planning Period length and the Check Period, i.e. how long is the interval of time between two subsequent order releases. Previous papers have examined the effects of a modification in the values of the load limits. In this paper we present experimental results about the effects of different values for both the planning period and the check period. Both parameters have a great impact on shop performances and, most important, present an optimal value. The optimal check period value was found to depend on the average amount of time required by each manufacturing operation performed in the shop; quite the contrary, no explicit dependency has been found to date for the planning period's optimal value.