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

Matthias Thürer and Mark Stevenson

International Journal of Production Research, 2016, vol. 54, issue 17, 5136-5150

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.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1080/00207543.2016.1156182

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