Integrated job release and shop-floor scheduling to minimize work in process and meet due-dates

We address the problem of releasing jobs to the factory floor while meeting delivery dates and minimizing the work-in-process inventory. Heuristic algorithms were developed that used an efficient, detailed shop-floor scheduling model to determine the release times of new jobs. The process starts with the current shop floor conditions and determines the sequencing of both in-process and new jobs on machines in order to minimize the maximum lateness (Lmax). The approach is tractable for industrial-sized problems and provides solutions close to a calculated lower bound for WIP. Computational experience is given.