Network Dispatching by the Shortest-Operation Discipline

Abstract

The significance of the dispatching function in production planning and control is discussed and applicable results in sequencing and queuing theory are reviewed. Experimental results for a network of queues representing a small job shop are presented. The investigation involved the comparison of dispatching at random with dispatching in order of increasing processing time under different conditions of shop size, flow pattern, and level of work-in-process inventory. Also considered is the effect of imperfect a priori knowledge of processing times upon the shortest-operation discipline Several modifications of the shortest-operation discipline were also tested one in which the shortest-operation discipline is ‘truncated’ and another in which it is periodically alternated with a first-come-first-served discipline.