A Dispatching Methodology for Balancing Workload Assignments in a Job Shop Production Facility

Abstract A flow-controlled dispatching methodology is developed for balancing workload assignments in an industrial job shop manufacturing environment. Indices are derived for measuring the workload balance over a horizon of scheduling periods. A general simulation model is used to compare the flow-controlled dispatching methodology with standard dispatching rules. The flow-controlled methods are shown to yield significant improvements in the workload balance index as compared with any of the standard dispatching rules tested.