A due date-based dispatching rule for flexible manufacturing systems

In the paper a new dispatching rule is proposed, which extends the CEXSPT rule for dispatching jobs in a general cell’s environment, i.e., a multiple-machine cell, where each machine type is assigned to a priority value. Each job is represented as a finite sequence of operations, ordered according to the type priorities of the cell’s machines they are performed by. The algebraic background of the dispatching rule is described. The dispatching rule is implemented in the GOLDEN COMMON LISP programming language for IBM PC AT and compatible computers. A computer study of the performance of the proposed dispatching rule is conducted based on a four-machine cell, and the results are reported and analysed. The conclusions obtained are that the proposed dispatching rule produces cell’s makespans, better than the CEXSPT dispatching rule, because it reduces idle time on cell’s machines.