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Workload control in job shops with re-entrant flows: an assessment by simulation

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  • Matthias Thürer
  • Mark Stevenson

Abstract

One of the key functions of Workload Control is order release. Jobs are not released immediately onto the shop floor -- they are withheld and selectively released to create a mix of jobs that keeps work-in-process within limits and meet due dates. A recent implementation of Workload Control’s release method highlighted an important issue thus far overlooked by research: How to accommodate re-entrant flows, whereby a station is visited multiple times by the same job? We present the first study to compare the performance of Workload Control both with and without re-entrant flows. Simulation results from a job shop model highlight two important aspects: (i) re-entrant flows increase variability in the work arriving at a station, leading to a direct detrimental effect on performance; (ii) re-entrant flows affect the release decision-making process since the load contribution of all visits by a job to a station has to fit within the norm. Both aspects have implications for practice and our interpretation of previous research since: (i) parameters given for work arriving may significantly differ from those realised; (ii) increased workload contributions at release mean that prior simulations may have been unstable, leading to some jobs never being released.

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  • Matthias Thürer & Mark Stevenson, 2016. "Workload control in job shops with re-entrant flows: an assessment by simulation," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(17), pages 5136-5150, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:tprsxx:v:54:y:2016:i:17:p:5136-5150
    DOI: 10.1080/00207543.2016.1156182
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    2. Thürer, Matthias & Stevenson, Mark & Silva, Cristovao & Qu, Ting, 2017. "Drum-buffer-rope and workload control in High-variety flow and job shops with bottlenecks: An assessment by simulation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 116-127.

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