Effect of load, processing time and due date variation on the effectiveness of scheduling rules

In real manufacturing environments, variations in production factors (i.e. processing time, demand, due-dates) are inevitable facts. All these dynamic changes, together with random disturbances (e.g. machine breakdowns) can seriously affect the system performance. In this paper we focus on load, processing time and due date variation and analyse their impacts on a scheduling system. Specifically, we investigate the impact of variation on dispatching policies in a job shop environment via simulation. The statistical analysis of the results leads to two major conclusions: first, the relative performance of rules is not threatened much by PV (processing time variation), LV (load variation) or DDV (due date variation) – a result that can be a consolation for practitioners in the field. Secondly, the performance of the rules deteriorates, in particular at high levels of PV, LV and DDV – a result that can provide new insights into the problem and produces useful information for researchers in their continuous effort to develop better dispatching rules.