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A discrete event scheduler in a dynamic production system

Many everyday production scheduling problems may not advantageously be represented by the classical optimum-seeking formulations of Operations Research. The assumptions underlying these approaches may be too limiting, the methods themselves not comprehensive enough or responsive to change, or the implementation too difficult for the intended user. On the other hand, heuristic approaches by themselves may not be capable of considering all relevant factors, and may not perform as well as the requirements dictate.
This article describes an approach which uses a deterministic event scheduling simulation as an adjusting procedure to develop a production schedule based on current equipment availability and batch status information. The problem is characterized by the sensitivity of the production materials to changes in processing time, and by extremely complex equipment constraints which make dispatching heuristics very difficult to define. The article details our experience in designing and implementing this approach, and discusses its performance.