Alternative control mechanisms for cyclical scheduling systems

This paper investigates the relative performance of alternative mechanisms for controlling the cycle length in a cyclical scheduling system. While all methods investigated are able to maintain a target long run average cycle length, some provide greater inventory efficiency than others, with more informed application of idle time. Simulation results demonstrate that a fixed idle time policy provides worst results, while an aggregate workload heuristic based on earlier dynamic policy characterisation provides superior performance. The importance of the control mechanism is shown to be greatest when the process is subject to high demand intensity, particularly when the demand process is sporadic.