This paper calls for a paradigm shift in the production control literature away from assuming due
date setting and order release are two independent decision levels. When order release is
controlled, jobs do not enter the shop floor directly but are retained in a pre-shop pool and
released to meet certain performance targets. This makes the setting of accurate planned release
dates – the point at which jobs transition from the pool to the shop floor – a key consideration
when setting due dates. We develop a new approach to estimating planned release dates to be
embedded in the Workload Control concept. Our approach is unique as it anticipates the release
decision as part of the due date setting procedure. This makes a second independent release
decision superfluous and avoids a major cause of tardiness – deviations between (i) the planned
release date used when calculating the delivery time allowance and (ii) the actual, realized
release date. Simulation is used to compare the performance of Workload Control using two
decision levels with the new single-level approach where the release decision is anticipated when
setting the due date. Performance improvements are shown to be robust to uncertainty in
processing time estimates