Chapter

16

Scheduling

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. The optimizing approach, of course, would give the optimal schedule for a group of jobs. However, implementing the model would be difficult. For example, significant amounts of data would need to be maintained and updated each time the model was used. There would also likely be circumstances when the schedule would have to be manually adjusted to account for unexpected happenings. Of course, the models assumptions (linearity or nonlinearity, deterministic or stochastic, and so forth) could come into serious question. The dispatching approach does not claim to provide an optimal solution, but it is much easier to implement and adjusts to unexpected happenings as they occur. The optimizing approach might prove to be the better choice in environments where there are few new job arrivals during the week (or they can be held until the next scheduling session) and there are few unexpected disruptions to the process. The dispatching approach is likely to be the better choice in dynamic environments where control of the schedule is difficult without making changes periodically. Technology and software advances for real-time scheduling may offer the best of both approaches. 2. Priority systems affect operations performance and aid management in making operational decisions. They facilitate prioritizing of work in the organization, as all the work to be performed in the organization cannot be done at the same time. The choice of priority system also helps management to focus and consciously decide on the scheduling system that will emphasize the performance criteria it considers to be important. By providing guidance for the numerous routine decisions associated with determining the sequence in which jobs are to be processed, priority systems allow managers to spend more time with strategic issues.

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PROBLEMS 1. Michaels Distribution Center Day Requirements M 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 T 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 M 6 W 5 4 3 3 2 2 1 T 3 Th 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 W 5 F 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Th 3 S 2 2 2 1 1 0 0 F 7 S 2 Su 3

Su Employee 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

The number of employees is 7. They are scheduled to take the boxed days off. 2. Cara Ryders ski school needs 11 instructors. a. Alternative 1. The heuristic does have a number of different solutions.
M 7 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 T 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 W 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 2 1 0 Th 5 5 5 4 4 4 3 2 1 1 0 F 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 0 S 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 3 2 2 1 Su 8 7 6 5 4 3 3 3 2 1 0 Instructor 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

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b. Instructors are scheduled to take the boxed days off in the solution shown in part (a).
On-duty Requirements Slack M 7 7 0 T 5 5 0 W 4 4 0 Th 5 5 0 F 6 6 0 S 9 9 0 Su 8 8 0

Alternative 2 (Optional)
M 7 6 5 5 4 4 3 2 2 1 1 T 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 W 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 0 Th 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 1 1 0 F 6 5 5 4 4 3 2 2 1 1 0 S 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 3 2 2 1 Su 8 7 6 5 4 4 3 3 2 1 1 Instructor 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Instructors are scheduled to take the boxed days off.

On-duty Requirements Slack M 7 7 0 T 5 5 0 W 4 4 0 Th 5 5 0 F 6 6 0 S 9 9 0 Su 8 8 0

3. The environmentally progressive Mayor of Massilon, Ohio a. We used Workforce Scheduler Solver in OM Explorer to arrive at the minimum number of collectors. For each employee, the bold values show his or her two off-days.

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Solver Workforce Scheduler

Enter data in yellow shaded areas. Enter your base requirements for the days of the work week. M 12 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 T 7 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 W 9 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 3 2 2 1 0 Th 9 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 2 1 0 0 F 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 S 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 0 Su 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 1 0 0 0 Employee gets F/S off. Employee gets S/Su off. Employee gets F/S off. Employee gets S/Su off. Employee gets F/S off. Employee gets S/Su off. Employee gets T/W off. Employee gets Th/F off. Employee gets T/W off. Employee gets S/Su off. Employee gets Th/F off. Employee gets S/Su off.

Base Requirements Employee 1 Employee 2 Employee 3 Employee 4 Employee 5 Employee 6 Employee 7 Employee 8 Employee 9 Employee 10 Employee 11 Employee 12

The minimum number of employees is 12. However, many schedules (particular assignments of on-duty periods) are possible. b. The work schedule for the analysis in part (a) is to assign employees the boxed days off. On-duty Requirements Slack 12 12 0 10 7 3 10 9 1 10 9 1 7 5 2 4 3 1 7 6 1

c. We can use the heuristic method again to find whether we can get by with fewer employees. One solution follows.
M 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 2 1 0 0 T 7 6 5 5 4 3 3 3 2 1 1 W 7 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 1 0 0 Th 7 6 6 5 4 4 3 2 1 1 0 F 7 6 6 5 4 4 3 2 1 1 0 S 7 7 6 5 5 4 3 2 2 1 0 Su 7 7 6 5 5 4 3 2 2 1 0 Employee 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

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i. Only 11 employees would be needed now. Total slack generated from this work schedule is:
On-duty Requirements Slack M 9 8 1 T 7 7 0 W 9 7 2 Th 8 7 1 F 8 7 1 S 7 7 0 Su 7 7 0

ii. With preference to S-Su pairs.

M 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 2 1 0 T 7 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 1 0 W 7 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 1 1 Th 7 6 6 5 4 4 3 2 1 1 F 7 6 6 5 4 4 3 2 2 1 S 7 7 6 5 5 4 3 2 2 1 Su 7 7 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 1 Employee 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The number of employees needed is reduced to 10, and no slack is generated from this solution.
On-duty Requirements Slack M 8 8 0 T 7 7 0 W 7 7 0 Th 7 7 0 F 7 7 0 S 7 7 0 Su 7 7 0

iii. Because each employee requires a truck, the number of trucks needed would be 8 to cover Monday, even though the actual number of employees available would be 9 in the solution (i). Assuming that extra employees are put to work doing some support activities, the smoothing of the workload will result in a reduction of 4 trucks over the requirements schedule in part (a).

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4. Hickory Company a.
Job 1 2 3 4 5 FCFS: Start Time 0 10 13 28 37 Flow Time 10 13 28 37 44 Job 2 5 4 1 3 SPT: Start Time 0 3 10 19 29 Flow Time 3 10 19 29 44 Job 2 1 3 4 5 EDD: Start Time 0 3 13 28 37 Flow Time 3 13 28 37 44

b.
Average flow times Average early time Average past due Average WIP inv. Average total inv.

FCFS: 26.4 0.4 11.0 3.0 3.1

SPT: 21.0 3.4 8.6 2.4 2.8

EDD: 25.0 1.0 10.2 2.8 3.0

c. The rules perform as expected, except for SPT on the average past due measure. Typically EDD will do better here. Nonetheless, SPT does well on flow times, WIP, and inventory levels. 5. Drill press a., b. The following tables give the solutions to parts (a) and (b) using the Single Machine Scheduler from OM Explorer.
Solver - Single Machine Scheduler
Enter data in yellow shaded areas. Single or Multiple Operations Operation Time to Time at Due Date Curr. Station (weeks) 5 4 8 11 13 16 6 18 2 7 Multiple Operations Number of Shop Time Operations Remaining Remaining (weeks) 3 4 4 6 10 9 3 12 5 3

Job AA BB CC DD EE

CR 1.25 1.83 1.78 1.50 2.33

S/RO 0.33 1.25 0.70 2.00 0.80

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SolverSinge Machine Scheduler

FCFS:
Job AA BB CC DD EE Start Time 0 4 12 25 31 Flow Time 4 12 25 31 33 Job EE AA BB CC DD

SPT:
Start Time 0 2 6 12 20 Flow Time 2 6 12 20 33 Job AA EE BB CC DD

EDD:
Start Time 0 4 6 14 27 Flow Time 4 6 14 27 33 Job AA CC EE BB DD

S/RO:
Start Time 0 4 17 19 27 Flow Time 4 17 19 27 33 Job AA DD CC BB EE

CR:
Start Time 0 4 10 23 31 Flow Time 4 10 23 31 33

Average Flow TImes Average Early TIme Average Past Due Average WIP Inv. Average Total Inv.

FCFS: 21.0 0.2 9.8 3.2 3.2

SPT: 14.6 2.2 5.4 2.2 2.5

EDD: 16.8 0.4 5.8 2.5 2.6

S/RO: 20.2 1.8 10.6 3.1 3.3

CR: 20.0 0.2 8.8 3.0 3.1

c. Priority planning with an MRP system relies on proper timing of materials. Planners manipulate scheduled due dates to match material need dates with order due dates. Consequently, priority rules incorporating due dates would be most useful in communicating these changes to the shop floor. Of those listed in this problem, EDD, S/RO, and CR would work best. 6. Bycraft Enterprises
Job 1 2 3 4 Total Processing Time (hours) 50(.06) + 4 = 7.0 120(.05) + 3 = 9.0 260(.03) + 5 = 12.8 200(.04) + 2 = 10.0

a. Using SPT
Job 1 2 4 3 Total Arrival 9:00 A.M.(M) 10:00 A.M.(M) 12:00 P.M. (M) 11:00 A.M.(M) Start 9:00 A.M.(M) 4:00 P.M.(M) 1:00 A.M.(T) 11:00 A.M.(T) Finish 4:00 P.M.(M) 1:00 A.M.(T) 11:00 A.M.(T) 11:48 P.M.(T) Flow (hr) 7.0 15.0 23.0 36.8 81.80 Past Due (hr) 0.0 3.0 9.0 24.8 36.8

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Monday 812 124 Job 1 7 hours 48 812 Job 2 9 hours 124 48 Job 4 10 hours

Tuesday 812 124 48 Job 3 12.8 hours 812

Using EDD
Job 1 2 3 4 Total Arrival 9:00 A.M.(M) 10:00 A.M.(M) 11:00 A.M.(M) 12:00 P.M.(M) Start 9:00 A.M.(M) 4:00 P.M.(M) 1:00 A.M.(T) 1:48 P.M.(T) Finish 4:00 P.M.(M) 1:00 A.M.(T) 1:48 P.M.(T) 11:48 P.M.(T) Flow (hr) 7.0 15.0 26.8 35.8 84.6 Past Due (hr) 0.0 3.0 14.8 21.8 39.6

812

Monday 124 48 Job 1

812 Job 2 9 hours

124

48 Job 3

Tuesday 812 124

48 Job 4 10 hours

812

7 hours

12.8 hours

b.
Average flow time (hours) Average hours past due

SPT 20.45 9.20

EDD 21.15 9.90

c. EDD minimizes the maximum number of past-due hours and the variance of the pastdue hours; however, EDD does worse with regard to average flow times and average hours past due. Consequently, in this example EDD does better with respect to some customer service measures but does worse with respect to inventory. SPT processes some jobs and gets them out of inventory quickly, assuming jobs can be shipped on completion whether or not they are due. Typical trade-offs involve customer service and inventory investment.

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7. Refer to Gantt chart in Fig. 16.8

Machine A Job 1 B 0 a. Idle 1

Job 2 Job 1 2 3

Job 3 Job 2 4 5 6

Idle Job 3 7 8 9

To minimize the makespan if each job must be processed on machine A first, we can use Johnsons rule:
Job 1 2 3 Process Time (hr) Machine A Machine B 2 1 1 4 3 2

The optimal sequence would be 231. The revised Gantt chart is: Machine A Job 2 B Idle 0 1 2 Job 3 Job 2 3 4 5 Job 1 Job 3 6 Idle Job 1 7 8

The makespan is now 8 hours, which is an improvement of 1 hour. b. Now suppose that the only restriction is that no job may be processed on different machines at the same time. One of several schedules that yield a makespan of 7 hours is given following:

Machine A Job 2 B Job 1 0 1

Job 3 Job 2 2 3 4

Job 1

Idle Job 3

With the restriction of flow from machine A to machine B removed, we are able to utilize the first hour on machine B. This is why we could beat the schedule in part (a).

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8. Manufacturer of small-boat sails Job Operation 1 Operation 2 1 1 8 2 5 3 3 8 1 4 3 2 5 9 8 6 4 6 7 7 7 8 2 2 9 4 4 10 9 1

a. One possible sequence is 18675924103 b.

Job 1 8 6 7 5 9 2 4 10 3 Machine 1 Start Finish 0 1 3 7 14 23 27 32 35 44 1 3 7 14 23 27 32 35 44 52 Machine 2 Start Finish 1 9 11 17 24 32 36 39 44 52 9 11 17 24 32 36 39 41 45 53

The Gantt chart is shown following.

Oper 1 1 Oper 2 0 1 5 8 10 6 15 7 20 25 5 30 9 35 2 4 40 45 8 6 7 5 9 2 4 10 10 Idle 50 55 3 3

9. McGee Parts Company a. To minimize the makespan if each job must be deburred prior to heat treatment, we can use Johnsons rule:
Job 1 2 3 4 5 6 Processing Time Days Debur Heat Treat 2 3 7 3 1 8 6 5 4 8 5 2

One optimal sequence would be 512436.

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b.

The Gantt chart is shown following. The orders can be shipped in 31 working days. 5 1 2 4 3 6

Debur Heat Treatment

|

5
| | | |

1
| | |

2
| | |

4
| | |

3
|

6
| |

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

32

10. Reliable Manufacturing Job Department 12 Department 22 a. SPT.

Department 12
Job 1 8 5 2 4 3 7 6 Process Time 2 2 4 4 5 7 8 10 Begin Time 0 2 4 8 12 17 24 32 End Time 2 4 8 12 17 24 32 42 Flow Time 2 4 8 12 17 24 32 42 141

1 2 3

2 4 6

3 7 3

4 5 8

5 4 2

6 10 6

7 8 6

8 2 5

Department 22
Process Time 3 5 2 6 8 3 6 6 Begin Time 2 5 10 12 18 26 32 42 End Time 5 10 12 18 26 29 38 48 Flow Time 5 10 12 18 26 29 38 48 186

i. Average flow time in Department 12 = (141/8) = 17.625 days ii. Makespan = 48 days iii. Sum of job-days = 186

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b. Johnsons rule minimizes makespan time when scheduling two facilities. First we establish the sequence of jobs based on Johnsons rule: Department # 12 Department # 22 1 1 8 8 2 2 4 4 6 6 7 7 3 3 5 5

Job 1 8 2 4 6 7 3 5

Process Time 2 2 4 5 10 8 7 4

Department #1 Begin End Time Time 0 2 4 8 13 23 31 38 2 4 8 13 23 31 38 42

Flow Time 2 4 8 13 23 31 38 42 161

Process Time 3 5 6 8 6 6 3 2

Department #22 Begin End Time Time 2 5 10 16 24 31 38 41 5 10 16 24 30 37 41 43

Flow Time 5 10 16 24 30 37 41 43 206

i. Average flow time for Department 12 = (161/8) = 20.125 days. ii. Makespan = 43 days. iii. Sum of job-days = 206 c. The SPT rule results in a lower inventory of uncompleted jobs (see sum of job-days). Johnsons rule minimizes makespan for a set of jobs over a group of machines. However, to implement Johnsons rule, the informational requirements increase and the cost of applying the priority rule increases. The trade-off is between improving the overall utilization of the whole facility (2 machines) versus the optimum utilization of an individual facility. The implication for centralized priority planning is that the additional information requirement may increase the cost. However, centralized planning allows better overall performance and control by higher management. 11. Little 6, Inc.
Personal tax returns Corporate tax returns Total hours required Accountants Time 1.5 4.0 10.0 M 24 18 108 11 T 14 10 61 7 W 18 12 75 8 Th 18 15 87 9 F 10 24 111 12 S 28 12 90 9 Su 16 4 40 4

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a. We used the Employee Scheduling method in the text to schedule accountants. Tiebreaking preference was given to S-Su pairs of days off. For each employee, the box represents his or her two off-days.
M 11 10 9 8 7 6 6 5 4 3 3 2 1 0 T 7 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 W 8 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 1 1 0 Th 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 F 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 2 1 0 S 9 9 9 8 8 7 6 5 5 4 3 2 1 1 Su 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Accountant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

This schedule calls for 14 accountants. b. Three part-time accountants working on the X days, as shown following, could be effectively used to replace the three full-time accountants numbered 12 through 14.
M X X off T off off off W off X off Th off off off F X X off S X off X Su off off off Accountant PT1 PT2 PT3

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12. Return to Problem 1. We use the same method except now the requirement is to have four consecutive days off. The boxed days are the off-days in the schedule below.

Employee
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

M
6 6 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 2 1 1 0

T
3 3 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

W
5 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

Th
3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

F
7 6 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 2 2 1 1

S
2 2 2 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Su
3 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0

It will take 13 employees to cover this set of requirements on a part-time basis. If the requirement of 4 consecutive days off could be adjusted for several employees, the number of required employees could be significantly reduced.
On-duty employees Requirements Slack M 6 6 0 T 4 3 1 W 7 5 2 Th 4 3 1 F 7 7 0 S 5 2 3 Su 6 3 3

13. Standard Components

Work Time (days) 1.25 2.75 2.50 3.00 2.50 1.75 2.25 2.00 Due Date (days) 6 5 7 6 5 8 7 5 Shop Time Remaining (days) 2.5 3.5 4.0 4.5 3.0 2.5 3.0 2.5 Operations Remaining 5 7 9 12 8 6 9 3 Slack per Slack Remaining (days) Operation 3.5 0.700 1.5 0.214 3.0 0.333 1.5 0.125 2.0 0.250 5.5 0.917 4.0 0.444 2.5 0.833 Critical Ratio 2.40 1.43 1.75 1.33 1.67 3.20 2.33 2.00

Job 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

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Rule FCFS Due date Completion Days past due SPT Due date Completion Days past due EDD Due date Completion Days past due S/RO Due date Completion Days past due CR Due date Completion Days past due

1 6 1.25 0 1 6 1.25 0 2 5 2.75 0 4 6 3.00 0 4 6 3.00 0

2 5 4.00 0 6 8 3.00 0 5 5 5.25 0.25 2 5 5.75 0.75 2 5 5.75 0.75

3 7 6.50 0 8 5 5.00 0 8 5 7.25 2.25 5 5 8.25 3.25 5 5 8.25 3.25

Sequence 4 5 6 5 9.50 12.00 3.50 7.00 7 3 7 7 7.25 9.75 0.25 2.75 1 4 6 6 8.50 11.50 2.50 5.50 3 7 7 7 10.75 13.00 3.75 6.00 3 8 7 5 10.75 12.75 3.75 7.75

6 8 13.75 5.75 5 5 12.25 7.25 3 7 14.00 7.00 1 6 14.25 8.25 7 7 15.00 8.00

7 7 16.00 9.00 2 5 15.00 10.00 7 7 16.25 9.25 8 5 16.25 11.25 1 6 16.25 10.25

8 5 18.00 13.00 4 6 18.00 12.00 6 8 18.00 10.00 6 8 18.00 10.00 6 8 18.00 10.00

a. Relative performance. The following table shows that FCFS and SPT result in the lowest proportion of past jobs completed. SPT results in the lowest average past due, whereas EDD results in the lowest level of maximum past due.
Rule FCFS SPT EDD S/RO CR % of Jobs Past Due 62.5% 62.5% 87.5% 87.5% 87.5% Average Past Due (days) 4.781 4.031 4.594 5.406 5.469 Maximum Past Due (days) 13.00 12.00 10.00 11.25 10.25

b. All of these rules result in some jobs being past due. If customers can tolerate a small amount of past due but would be very upset and likely to move their business elsewhere if jobs are extremely past due, then SPT would be a good rule to use.

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14. Penultimate Support Systems

Model Fabrication Assembly A 12 8 B 24 30 C 6 12 D 18 15

Using Johnsons rule, the sequence of Models is CBDA.

Fabrication C Assembly 0 C 10 B Idle 20 30 40 D B 50 60 A Idle D 70 A 80

Job C B D A

Fabrication Start 0 6 30 48

Finish 6 30 48 60

Assembly Start 6 30 60 75

Finish 18 60 75 83

The duration of this schedule (83 hours) is longer than can be completed within two 40hour shifts. 15. Eight jobs processed on three machines
Job Machine 1 Machine 2 Machine 3 1 2 4 6 2 5 1 4 3 2 3 5 4 3 5 2 5 1 5 3 6 2 6 2 7 4 2 6 8 2 1 2

a. Using SPT for M2, the makespan for the eight jobs is 38 hours. Sequence 28731456
5 M1 M2 2 am M3 0 2 Idle 7 am Idle 3 6 2 9 8 12 7 15 18 3 21 24 1 27 4 30 5 33 6 36 39 8 2 8 7 3 1 4 5 6 7 3 1 4 6 Idle

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b. We can use Johnsons rule with some modifications. For example, we sum the processing times of M1 and M2 and then sum the processing times of M2 and M3 as follows:
Job 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 M1 + M2 6 6 5 8 6 8 6 3 M2 + M3 10 5 8 7 8 8 8 3

By Johnsons rule, the revised schedule is 83157642. The Gantt chart is shown following. If we start the M2 schedule at 7:00 A.M., M1 begins at 5:00 A.M. The result is a makespan of 35 hours. Note that Johnsons rule utilizes M2 better than when SPT was used for scheduling.
5 M1 M2 2 A.M. M3 0 8 3 8 3 7 A.M. 3 6 9 12 1 15 18 5 21 7 24 6 27 4 30 2 33 Idle 36 39 1 5 7 6 4 1 7 6 4 2 Idle 2 Idle

Idle 8 3

16. Two operations scheduled through three machines a. Job schedules using four rules: i. SPT:
M1 Schedule Start Finish Job Time Time 2 0 2 6 2 5 3 5 9 4 9 14 1 14 20 5 20 27 M2 Schedule Start Finish Job Time Time 8 0 2 7 2 6 9 6 12 10 12 20

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Job 2 8 6 7 3 9 4 10 1 5

Arrival Time 2 2 5 6 9 12 14 20 20 27

Process Time 1 10 1 6 7 9 3 2 4 4

M3 Schedule Job Sequence 2 8 6 4 7 10 1 5 3 9

Start Time 2 3 13 14 17 23 25 29 33 40

Finish Time 3 13 14 17 23 25 29 33 40 49 Total Average

Hours Early 15 18 15 19 15 82 8.2

Past Due 1 16 3 18 1 39 3.9

ii. EDD:
M1 Schedule Start Finish Job Time Time 1 0 6 4 6 11 2 11 13 3 13 17 6 17 20 5 20 27 M3 Schedule Job Sequence 8 1 4 2 3 6 5 10 7 9 M2 Schedule Start Finish Job Time Time 8 0 2 10 2 10 7 10 14 9 14 20

Job 8 1 10 4 2 7 3 6 9 5

Arrival Time 2 6 10 11 13 14 17 20 20 27

Due Date 31 13 40 16 18 42 22 29 48 30

Start Finish Hours Time Time Early 2 12 19 12 16 16 19 19 20 20 27 27 28 1 28 32 32 34 6 34 40 2 40 49 Total 28 Average 2.8

Past Due 3 3 2 5 2 1 16 1.6

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iii. S/RO:*
M1 Schedule Job 1 2 3 4 5 6 S/RO 1.5 7.5 5.5 4.0 9.5 12.5 Job 1 4 3 2 5 6 M2 Schedule Job 7 8 9 10 S/RO 16.0 9.5 16.5 15.0 Job 8 10 7 9 Start Time 0 2 10 14 Finish Time 2 10 14 20 Start Time 0 6 11 15 17 24 Finish Time 6 11 15 17 24 27

Job 8 1 10 4 7 3 2 9 5 6

Arrival Time 2 6 10 11 14 15 17 20 24 27

S/RO 19 3 0 3 4 4 9 1 1 3

M3 Schedule Job Sequence 8 1 4 3 2 5 6 7 10 9

Start Time 2 12 16 19 26 27 31 32 38 40

Finish Time 12 16 19 26 27 31 32 38 40 49 Total Average

Hours Early 19 4 23 2.3

Past Due 3 3 4 9 1 3 1 24 2.4

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iv. CR:*
M1 Schedule Job 1 2 3 4 5 6 CR 1.3 6.0 2.0 2.0 2.7 7.3 Job 1 3 4 5 2 6 M2 Schedule Job 7 8 9 10 CR 4.2 2.6 3.2 4.0 Job 8 9 10 7 M3 Schedule Job Sequence 8 1 4 3 2 5 6 7 10 9 Start Time 0 2 8 16 Finish Time 2 8 16 20 Start Time 0 6 10 15 22 24 Finish Time 6 10 15 22 24 27

Job 8 1 9 3 4 10 7 5 2 6

Arrival Time 2 6 8 10 15 16 20 22 24 27

CR 2.90 0.25 0.89 0.43 0.00 1.00 1.67 0.75 8.00 2.00

Start Time 2 12 16 19 26 27 31 32 38 40

Finish Hours Time Early 12 19 16 19 26 27 31 32 38 4 40 49 Total 23 Average 2.3

Past Due 3 3 4 9 1 3 1 24 2.4

Note: The S/RO and CR ratios at M3 are calculated each time the machine is available to process another job. Only the jobs in queue at that instant are evaluated. The values in the S/RO and CR columns are the values at the time the jobs were selected for processing.

b. EDD minimizes the past due but results in producing product early. If the product will have to be held in inventory and has a high inventory carrying cost, S/RO or CR minimizes early production.

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CASE: FOOD KING *

A. Synopsis The Food King case is set in the grocery supermarket industry where competition is severe and profit margins are a very small percentage of revenues. The principal in the case, Marty Moyer, has recently been promoted to the position of store manager at a large, flagship store in Columbia, South Carolina. Competitive positioning of the supermarket chains service package has just been revised, and the store has recently adopted a 24-hour-a-day, 7-days-a-week open-door policy. The problem facing Marty is to develop a work schedule for the stocking/bagging employees that will satisfy competitive priorities and, at the same time, control costs. B. Purpose This case is designed to expose students to issues pertaining to scheduling workers in a service environment where demand typically exhibits large fluctuations over very short periods of time within a day or even within a shift. Specific issues the case is meant to illustrate include: Adjusting capacity to meet demand, given workforce scheduling constraints concerning: Organizational policies Legal restrictions Behavioral/psychological factors Minimizing cost Seeing how the scheduling of workers impacts the ability of organizations to meet competitive priorities. Receiving enough information concerning demand, work policies, and costs to enable students to develop a work schedule. Rotating versus fixed work schedules within the context of meeting behavioral needs of the younger workers specifically. Appropriate measures for determining the effectiveness of the resulting schedule with respect to meeting the competitive priorities of Food King. C. Analysis The analysis should begin with a discussion of the target market and the accompanying shopper priorities. The issue here is translating customer requirements into organizational competitive priorities. Customer requirements given in the case were: Cleanliness Availability Timely service Reasonable prices
*

This case was prepared by Dr. Brooke Saladin, Wake Forest University, as a basis for classroom discussion.

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These requirements can be associated with the following competitive priorities: 1. Quality: Food King must maintain the quality of the service delivery package, which includes both high-performance design and service delivery process factors. Facilities that are easy to keep clean, dont look messy and cluttered, and are flexible with respect to changing displays and stocking locations should be designed. Stockers/baggers are the primary labor input in the housekeeping service process. 2. Flexibility: The many aspects of flexibility will impact virtually all of the customer requirements listed. The facilities must be designed to adapt to changing customer grocery item mixes. The store must keep the shelves stocked with what the customers want. Shelf space allocations, in-store displays, and the grocery item mix will be constantly changing. 3. Fast and convenient delivery: Perhaps on par with flexibility, the ability to provide fast, convenient service is important. The store recently established a 7-day, 24-hour open policy in response to customer and competitive requirements. Other aspects of fast delivery service include not having to wait at service counters (i.e., meat, deli, or bakery) or at the checkout counters. 4. Low Cost: The grocery store industry traditionally operates on very low profit margins. Customers may be willing to pay some premium for higher quality and faster service, but the issue is how much? This is one of the key trade-offs facing Food King. Stockers and baggers can be added to help meet each of the other competitive priorities, but then overall costs would rise. Following a discussion of the trade-offs present in establishing the competitive priorities for Food King, students attention should be directed to the development of a work schedule for stockers/baggers. This note contains one possible solution in Exhibits TN.1 through TN.7. Also attached is Appendix A, a student solution that contains two methods of approaching the schedule. The solution in the teaching note is based on the following assumptions: 1. Full-time employees were assigned shifts of eight consecutive hours, each with two consecutive days off. 2. Part-time workers were scheduled in four-hour blocks of time. 3. The number of part-time hours worked could not exceed 50 percent of that of the fulltime staff. 4. Standard full-time shifts began at 8 A.M., 4 P.M., and 12 A.M. 5. Maximize the use of full-time employees without creating a large amount of excess capacity. 6. Utilize part-time employees to avoid excess capacity and to lower labor costs. The solution presented in the exhibits was developed using a modified version of the minimize total slack capacity approach outlined in Chapter 17, Scheduling. The differences are that two consecutive four-hour blocks were used to identify the minimum requirement pairs. The work schedule for full-time employees is provided in Exhibit

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TN.1 with the procedure for the traditional shift schedules of 8:00 A.M., 4:00 P.M., and 12:00 A.M. given in Exhibits TN.2, TN.3, and TN.4. Twenty-two full-time stockers/baggers are utilized in this schedule. Eight will work from 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. with four having Sunday and Monday off and four having Wednesday and Thursday off. Six employees will work from 4:00 P.M. to 12:00 A.M. Two will have Wednesday and Thursday off, two will have Sunday and Monday off, and one will have Tuesday and Wednesday off. Six employees will work the 12:00 A.M. to 8:00 A.M. shift with three having Saturday and Sunday off. Two employees will have Tuesday and Wednesday off and one will have Thursday and Friday off. The 21st and 22nd full-time employees were determined by creating a special 12:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. shift, as seen in Exhibit TN.5. Exhibit TN.6 represents the remaining requirements after the 22 full-time employees had been scheduled. In order to cover these requirements, 12 part-time employees were scheduled. These workers represent 9.4-20 hour per week part-time employee equivalents. The part-time schedule is provided in Exhibit TN.7. The total costs of this schedule in labor cost dollars is: 22 FT 40 hrs/wk $5.25/hr = $4,620 9.4 PT 20 hrs/wk $4.50hr = 846 $5,466 Of course there are many other combinations of part-time workers available. The configuration of part-time workers will change depending on the rules of thumb used to assign workers. However, if 22 full-time workers are employed, you need the equivalent of 9.4 part-time workers, each working 20 hours per week. General rules for the configuration in Exhibit TN.7 were to allocate 20 hours per worker when possible; do not allocate more than 8 hours in any one day, and try to spread like time slots across multiple days.

D. Recommendations Once a schedule similar to the one provided in this note is developed, you can readily test its ability to cover expected demand and calculate the labor costs involved. There are no specified legal restrictions presented in this case, but there are organizational policies to consider with respect to limiting part-time employees to 50 percent of the hours of fulltime employees and keeping part-time hours to 20 or fewer per employee. The solution presented has 22 full-time and 12 part-time employees scheduled, but some part-time employees work fewer than 20 hours per week. The effective full-time equivalent number of part-time employees is actually 9.4, well below the 50 percent target. When students are convinced that the schedule meets demand, costs, and organizational guidelines, attention usually shifts toward the behavioral and psychological factors associated with the schedule. Therefore, additional recommendations will usually focus on the following issues:
Should employees be rotated through the schedule in some manner to provide more

fairness in days off and shifts? Are there other ways to assign individual employees to work schedules? Seniority? Performance ratings?

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Can employees swap days and shift times on a limited basis? What would be the impact of utilizing extended shift times, such as 10 hours? Having weekends off is usually a consideration brought up by the students. In the

schedule provided, only three full-time employees have the whole weekend off, and they work the 12:00 A.M. to 8:00 A.M. shifts.

E. Teaching Suggestions This is a pretty straightforward case that should be assigned as an overnight exercise. The primary focus, of course, is to challenge the student to adapt scheduling methodologies presented in the text in order to develop an acceptable schedule. The discussion should be sectioned into three stages. First, discuss the requirements being placed on the operating system, and make sure the students see how these customer requirements translate into competitive priorities. Second, go right into the development of a work schedule. Ask students to share their schedules and explain the assumptions and rules of thumb they used to arrive at their schedule. It is helpful if you can have at least two schedules presented so comparisons can be made and students can discuss the trade-offs made. Finally, focus the students attention on evaluating the schedule with respect to organizational policies and the behavioral implications of the schedule. It is easy to use an hour to discuss the case issues completely. I try to allocate 15 minutes to discuss the requirements and competitive priorities; 30 minutes to go over at least two different schedules; and 15 minutes to evaluate the schedules and discuss recommendations beyond the specific worker configuration. It is usually a good idea to have the note solution ready if students are reluctant to offer their solutions. However, make sure that they understand that this is not necessarily the best solution, just a feasible one. The best depends on the interpretation and prioritization of the trade-offs that are present.

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EXHIBIT TN.1 Shift Time 8A4P 8A4P 8A4P 8A4P 8A4P 8A4P 8A4P 8A4P 4P12A 4P12A 4P12A 4P12A 4P12A 4P12A 12A8A 12A8A 12A8A 12A8A 12A8A 12A8A 12P8p 12P8P Employee 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 M off X off X off X off X X off off X off X X X X X X X X X

Full-Time Work Schedule T X X X X X X X X X X off X X off X off X off X X off X W X off X off X off X off off X X off X off X off X off X X off off Th X off X off X off X off off X X off X X X X X X off X X off F X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X off X X X S X X X X X X X X X X X X X X off X off X X off X X Su off X off X off X off X X off X X off X off X off X X off X X

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EXHIBIT TN.2 M 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 T 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 0 0

Full-Time 8:00 A.M.4:00 P.M. Requirements W 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 TH 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 F 8 10 7 9 6 8 5 7 4 6 3 5 2 4 1 3 0 2 S 15 15 14 14 13 13 12 12 11 11 10 10 9 9 8 8 7 7 Su 4 6 4 6 3 5 3 5 2 4 2 4 1 3 1 3 0 2

8A12P 12P4P 8A12P 12P4P 8A12P 12P4P 8A12P 12P4P 8A12P 12P4P 8A12P 12P4P 8A12P 12P4P 8A12P 12P4P 8A12P 12P4P

Note: Bold pairs indicate chosen minimum requirements for each allocation. Pairs represent 8-hour shifts with consecutive days off.

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EXHIBIT TN.3 M 5 4 4 3 4 3 4 3 3 2 3 2 2 1 T 6 4 5 3 4 2 4 2 3 1 2 0 2 0

Full-Time 4:00 P.M.12:00 A.M. Requirements W 5 4 5 4 4 3 3 2 3 2 2 1 2 1 Th 5 4 5 4 4 3 3 2 3 2 2 1 1 0 F 15 8 14 7 13 6 12 5 11 4 10 3 9 2 S 15 6 14 5 13 4 12 3 11 2 10 1 9 0 Su 6 4 5 3 5 3 4 2 3 1 3 1 2 0

4P8P 8P12A 4P8P 8P12A 4P8P 8P12A 4P8P 8P12A 4P8P 8P12A 4P8P 8P12A 4P8P 8P12A

Note: Bold pairs indicate chosen minimum requirements for each allocation. Pairs represent 8-hour shifts with consecutive days off.

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EXHIBIT TN.4 M 4 8 3 7 2 6 1 5 0 4 0 3 0 2 T 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 0 0

Full-Time 12:00 A.M.8:00 A.M. Requirements W 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 0 0 Th 4 8 3 7 2 6 1 5 0 4 0 4 0 3 F 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 S 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 Su 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1

12A4A 4A8A 12A4A 4A8A 12A4A 4A8A 12A4A 4A8A 12A4A 4A8A 12A4A 4A8A 12A4A 4A8A

Note: Bold pairs indicate chosen minimum requirements for each allocation. Pairs represent 8-hour shifts with consecutive days off.

EXHIBIT TN.5 M 2 2 1 1 0 0 T 0 2 0 2 0 1

Full-Time 12:00 A.M.8:00 A.M. Requirements W 1 2 1 2 1 2 Th 1 1 0 0 0 0 F 2 9 1 8 0 7 S 7 9 6 8 5 7 Su 2 2 1 1 0 0

12P4P* 4P8P** 12P4P 4P8P 12P4P 4P8P

* **

From Exhibit TN.2 last row of 12 P.M.4 P.M. From Exhibit TN.3 last row of 4 P.M.8 P.M.

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EXHIBIT TN.6 8A12P 12P4P 4P8P 8P12A 12A4A 4A8A M 2 0 0 1 0 2 T 0 0 1 0 0 0

Remaining Part-Time Employee Requirements W 1 1 2 1 0 0 Th 1 0 0 0 0 3 F 0 0 7 2 0 0 S 7 5 7 0 1 1 Su 0 0 0 0 1 1

Note: This matrix represents the requirements that remain after the full-time employees were scheduled. They are transcribed from the last row of requirements from Exhibits TN.2, TN.3, TN.4, and TN.5.

EXHIBIT TN.7 M 8A12P 8p12A 4A12P 4A8A T 4P8p

Part-Time Employee Work Schedule W 8A12P 4P8P 8P12A TH 8A12P 4A8A 12P4P 4P8P 4A8A 4A8A 4P8P 4P8A 4P8P 4P8P 4P8P F 4P12A 4P12A S 8A4P 4P8P 4P8P 12A8A 8A4P 8A4P 12P8P 8A4P 8A12P 4P8P 8A12P 4P8P 8A12P 4P8P 4P8P 21 SU

PT1 (20 hr) PT2 (20 hr) PT3 (20 hr) PT4 (20 hr) PT5 (20 hr) PT6 (20 hr) PT7 (20 hr) PT8 (16 hrs) PT9 (12 hrs) PT10 (8 hrs) PT11 (8 hrs) PT12 (4 hrs) Total number of four-hour shifts

12A8A

_____ 5

_____ 1

_____ 5

_____ 4

_____ 9

_____ 2

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APPENDIX A Student Solutions

A. Food KingScheduling Two methods were used to determine the schedule. Both methods required the full-time employees to be given two consecutive days off. In addition, standard start times with 8hour shifts were used whenever possible. Method 1 results are provided as Attachment 1. For this method, workers were assigned in a way that emphasized three standard shifts: (Tue-Sat at 8 A.M., 4 P.M., and 12 A.M.). Other shifts were used as required to balance workers. Method 2 results are provided as Attachment 2. For this method, workers were assigned in a way that minimized slack, as defined in the text. Days off were selected one worker at a time, based on the minimum capacity (employee) requirements. The pair of 4-hour blocks selected was based on the maximum number of workers required for two consecutive blocks. These rules were modified as required to balance the number of workers.
Additional information concerning trade-offs and priorities: Excess full-time workers were not used with either method. With this restriction, the fraction of part-time employees slightly exceeded 50 percent for Method 1. Food King likely requires additional full-time workers because the part-time worker head count was based on 20-hour workweeks. Method 2 does a better job of minimizing part-time workers during peak stocking hours. For both methods, the use of part-time workers is maximized during peak bagging hours as much as possible. Options to allow more fairness in the schedule: Food King should cycle individual worker schedules once a month or so. Workers should be allowed to swap 4-hour schedule blocks. A method should be developed to allow weekends off on a rotating basis. Extended shifts of up to 12 hours or four 10-hour days could be considered.

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ATTACHMENT 1: FOOD KING

Stocking/bagging personnel required Tue Wed Thur Fri 8 5 5 8 8 5 5 10 6 5 5 15 4 4 4 8 4 4 4 5 4 4 8 5 34 27 31 51

8:00 A.M. 12:00 P.M. 4:00 P.M. 8:00 P.M. 12:00 A.M. 4:00 A.M.

Mon 6 6 5 4 4 8 33

Sat 15 15 15 6 4 4 59

Sun 4 6 6 4 4 4 28

Total 51 55 57 34 29 37 263

8:00 A.M. 12:00 P.M. 4:00 P.M. 8:00 P.M. 12:00 A.M. 4:00 A.M.

Mon 4 5 4 3 3 3 22

Tue 5 7 6 4 4 4 30

Full-time personnel Wed Thur Fri 4 5 6 4 5 9 4 5 8 3 4 6 3 4 4 4 5 3 22 28 36

Sat 7 9 8 6 4 4 38

Sun 4 6 5 3 3 3 24

Total 35 45 40 29 25 26 200

FT emps 20

8:00 A.M. 12:00 P.M. 4:00 P.M. 8:00 P.M. 12:00 A.M. 4:00 A.M.

Mon 2 1 1 1 1 5 11

Tue 3 1 0 0 0 0 4

Part-time personnel Wed Thur Fri 1 0 2 1 0 1 1 0 7 1 0 2 1 0 1 0 3 2 5 3 15

Sat 8 6 7 0 0 0 21

Sun 0 0 1 1 1 1 4

Total 16 10 17 5 4 11 63

PT emps 12.6

Hours\Days 8:00 A.M.4:00 P.M. 12:00 P.M.8:00 P.M. 4:00 P.M.12:00 A.M. 8:00 P.M.4:00 A.M. 12:00 A.M.8:00 A.M. 4:00 A.M.12:00 A.M.

TuSa 3 3 2

WeSu 1

ThMo 1 1 1 1

FrTu 1 3 1

SaWe

SuTh

1 1

Fulltime employees 20

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ATTACHMENT 2: FOOD KING

Stocking/bagging personnel required Tue Wed Thur Fri 8 5 5 8 8 5 5 10 6 5 5 15 4 4 4 8 4 4 4 5 4 4 8 5 34 27 31 51

8:00 A.M. 12:00 P.M. 4:00 P.M. 8:00 P.M. 12:00 A.M. 4:00 A.M.

Mon 6 6 5 4 4 8 33

Sat 15 15 15 6 4 4 59

Sun 4 6 6 4 4 4 28

Total 51 55 57 34 29 37 263

Mon 8:00 A.M. 12:00 P.M. 4:00 P.M. 8:00 P.M. 12:00 A.M. 4:00 A.M.

Tue 4 5 5 4 4 4 26

Wed 8 8 6 4 4 4 34

Full-time personnel Thur Fri Sat 4 5 8 4 5 9 3 5 8 2 4 6 2 3 4 3 4 5 18 26 40

Sun 8 10 8 6 4 4 40

4 5 5 4 4 4 26

Total 41 46 40 30 25 28 210

FT emps 21

8:00 A.M. 12:00 P.M. 4:00 P.M. 8:00 P.M. 12:00 A.M. 4:00 A.M.

Mon 2 1 0 0 0 4 7

Tue 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Part-time personnel Wed Thur Fri 1 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 7 2 0 2 2 1 1 1 4 0 9 5 11

Sat 7 5 7 0 0 0 19

Sun 0 1 1 0 0 0 2

Total 10 9 17 4 4 9 53

PT emps 10.6

Hours/Days 8:00 A.M.4:00 P.M. 12:00 P.M.8:00 P.M 4:00 P.M.12:00 A.M. 8:00 P.M.4:00 A.M. 12:00 A.M.8:00 A.M. 4:00 A.M.12:00 A.M.

MoFr TuSa WeSu ThMo FrTu 2 1 2 1 3 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 2

SaWe SuTh

Full-time employees 21