Rights statement: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in International Journal of Production Economics. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in International Journal of Production Economics, 168, 2015 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2015.07.007
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Job shop control
T2 - in search of the key to delivery improvements
AU - Land, Martin
AU - Stevenson, Mark
AU - Thurer, Matthias
AU - Gaalman, Gerard J. C.
N1 - This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in International Journal of Production Economics. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in International Journal of Production Economics, 168, 2015 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2015.07.007
PY - 2015/10
Y1 - 2015/10
N2 - The last major performance breakthroughs in job shop control stem from the 1980s and 1990s.We generate a new search direction for designing job shop control policies, providing a key to delivery improvements. Based on a common characteristic shared by the most effective job shop control policies, we posit that control should have a specific focus during high load periods. A probability analysis reveals that substantial periods of high load are common, and even occur under assumptions of stationarity and moderate utilization. Subsequent simulations show nearly all tardy deliveries can be attributed to high load periods; and that the success of the best control policies can be explained by their ability to switch focus specifically during these periods, from reducing the dispersion of lateness to speeding up the average throughput time. Building on this, we demonstrate that for example small capacity adjustments targeted at handling high load periods can improve the percentage tardy and other delivery-related performance measures to a much greater extent than the best existing policies.Sensitivity analysis confirms the robustness of this approach and identifies a performance frontier reflecting the trade-off between capacity resources used and delivery performance realized. We conclude that a paradigm shift in job shop research is required: instead of developing single policies for application under all conditions, new policies are needed that respond differently to temporary high load periods. The new paradigm can be used as a designprinciple for realizing improvements across a range of planning and control decisions relevant to job shops
AB - The last major performance breakthroughs in job shop control stem from the 1980s and 1990s.We generate a new search direction for designing job shop control policies, providing a key to delivery improvements. Based on a common characteristic shared by the most effective job shop control policies, we posit that control should have a specific focus during high load periods. A probability analysis reveals that substantial periods of high load are common, and even occur under assumptions of stationarity and moderate utilization. Subsequent simulations show nearly all tardy deliveries can be attributed to high load periods; and that the success of the best control policies can be explained by their ability to switch focus specifically during these periods, from reducing the dispersion of lateness to speeding up the average throughput time. Building on this, we demonstrate that for example small capacity adjustments targeted at handling high load periods can improve the percentage tardy and other delivery-related performance measures to a much greater extent than the best existing policies.Sensitivity analysis confirms the robustness of this approach and identifies a performance frontier reflecting the trade-off between capacity resources used and delivery performance realized. We conclude that a paradigm shift in job shop research is required: instead of developing single policies for application under all conditions, new policies are needed that respond differently to temporary high load periods. The new paradigm can be used as a designprinciple for realizing improvements across a range of planning and control decisions relevant to job shops
KW - Job shop control
KW - Delivery performance
KW - Capacity control
KW - Simulation
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijpe.2015.07.007
DO - 10.1016/j.ijpe.2015.07.007
M3 - Journal article
VL - 168
SP - 257
EP - 266
JO - International Journal of Production Economics
JF - International Journal of Production Economics
SN - 0925-5273
ER -