Decision Sciences Journal
Volume 31, Number 1
Winter 2000
A Comparison between Basic Cyclic Scheduling and Variable
Cyclic Scheduling in a Two-stage Hybrid Flow Shop
Hitoshi Tsubone
Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Technology, 6-6 Asahigaoka, Hino,
Tokyo, 191-0065, Japan, e-mail: tsubone@krmgtbs1.tmit.ac.jp
Masahiko Suzuki
Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Technology, 6-6 Asahigaoka, Hino,
Tokyo, 191-0065, Japan
Toshifumi Uetake
Iwate Prefectual University, 152-52 Sugo, Takizawa, Iwate, 020-0173,
Japan,
e-mail: uetake@soft.iwate-pu.ac.jp
Masaaki Ohba
Konica Corporation Ltd., 1 Sakura-cho, Hino, Tokyo, 191-0065,
Japan,
e-mail: ohba@konica.co.jp
ABSTRACT. In this paper the impacts of two types of
repetitive scheduling systems on the makespan in a two-stage
hybrid flow shop, which consists of one machine in the first
stage and multiple process lines in the second stage, are compared.
First, we analyzed, through a simulation, how the makespan is
affected by the setup frequency and sequencing rules for products
under two types of scheduling systems: One is repetitive scheduling
with only one batch per product family per scheduling cycle (basic
cyclic scheduling system). The other is repetitive cyclic scheduling
with various batches per product family per scheduling cycle
(variable cyclic scheduling system). Second, we compared which
scheduling system is superior under various manufacturing situations.
The following points were noted. (1) The superior scheduling
system can be shown by a two-dimensional diagram of the setup
frequency and the imbalance in workload for processing among
process lines in the second stage. (2) Variable cyclic scheduling
is superior in comparison with basic cyclic scheduling when there
is a large imbalance in the workload to be processed among process
lines in the second stage, or the workload in the second stage
is larger than that in the first stage. The result of this research
provides guidelines for selecting which scheduling system should
be adopted.
Subject Areas: Lot Sizing, Operations and Production
Management, Repetitive Manufacturing, and Simulation. |