Integrating simulation and FITradeoff method for scheduling rules selection in job-shop production systems

Abstract Scheduling decisions related to due date assignment, order release and priority dispatching affect multiple performance dimensions simultaneously. Previous job-shop studies based on simulation and multiobjective optimization techniques do not explore the goals that a decision-maker (DM) wishes to reach, when assessing compensations between multiple benefits and potential impacts yielded by a combination of rules. With the aim of reflecting the DM's preference structure on scheduling decisions, this paper considers a discrete event simulation approach integrated with the Flexible and Interactive Tradeoff (FITradeoff) compensatory method to identify the best combination of due date assignment, order release and shop dispatching rules. Through discrete event simulation, the performance of different combinations of rules and inherent parameters are evaluated with regard to the attributes of total cost, production quantity, total throughput time, and tardiness. The FITradeoff method is used to compensate the disadvantage in one of the performance attributes with the advantage in other attributes, considering the DM's preferences which are elicited in a procedure that requires less information in order to make comparisions between multiple simulated consequences. A numerical application is set out using realistic data from a manufacturer of ladies' shoes so as to visualize and discuss the steps of the model and its usefulness in practice.