A fuzzy logic based methodology to rank shop floor dispatching rules

When scheduling jobs in a flow shop no single dispatching rule works best for all performance criteria. Hence, it becomes paramount to assess which rule is more balanced in terms of different conflicting achievements. An alternative to the simulation based comparison of different dispatching rules can be represented by a linguistic based decision making method. In this paper, we present a fuzzy logic based tool intended to rank flow shop dispatching rules under multiple performance criteria. This tool is detailed with reference to a significant industrial case of a major company operating in the boilermaker industry. The results show that the approach is robust and effective in providing a practical guidance to scheduling practitioners in choosing priorities dispatching rules when there are multiple objectives. Finally, the benefits and the shortcomings of the approach are discussed.