Delivery performance improvement by controlled work-order release and work-center load balancing

• Published in: International journal of production economics Vol. 56; no. 1; pp. 661 - 675
• Main Author: van Ooijen, H.P.G.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 20-09-1998; Elsevier Science; Elsevier
• Series: International Journal of Production Economics
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Delivery performance; Exact sciences and technology; Inventory control, production control. Distribution; Operational research and scientific management; Operational research. Management science; Work-center load balancing; Work-order release; Work-center load balancing; Work-order release; Delivery performance; Delivery (good); Birth death process; Material requirements planning; Job shop; Load balancing; Performance; Waiting time; Release; Workload
• ISSN: 0925-5273; 1873-7579
• DOI: 10.1016/S0925-5273(97)00127-8

The concept of load-based work-order release has been studied by many researchers. The general finding is that controlled work-order release in combination with a FCFS release rule (earliest release date) leads to a poorer delivery performance as compared to immediate release. The main reason for this is that this type of release policy leads to unnecessary resource idle times.
In this research we investigate a more sophisticated form of controlled work-order release. As reference point, we use an immediate release situation with Poisson order arrivals times and a general order lead time equal to the average work-order flow time under immediate release. In particular, we investigate release rules which give priority to orders that require resources which currently are underloaded and delay orders which require resources that are overloaded. The research shows that this type of release policy can lead to a better delivery performance than immediate release.