An investigation of the dispatching and expediting rules in buffer management : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Technology in Production Technology at Massey University

Abstract

Buffer Management is a proactive way of controlling the flow of materials on a shop floor. For shops using the Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR) scheduling system, information on the effectiveness of non-constraint resources can be captured by monitoring the buffer status. Practitioners use this information to initiate improvement efforts and to decide to expedite when some of the inevitable disruptions are likely to undermine shop performance. This study attempts to investigate three areas in Buffer Management: dispatching rules, expediting rules, and variance reduction. The selected dispatching rules are First-Come-First-Served (FCFS), Shortest Processing Time (SPT) and Minimum Slack Time (MINSLK). Both static and dynamic expediting rules are compared. Reduction in the coefficient of variance for processing times from 100% to 50% corresponds to the process of quality improvement. Mean protective capacity of non-constraint resources is varied to represent different levels of loading on the shop. Inventory and due date measures are used to appraise shop performance. Simulation results indicate that the FCFS dispatching rule is the method of choice if due date performance is important. The shop using the SPT dispatching rule produces lower cycle times. The dynamic expediting rule is only preferred in the shop using FCFS and when mean protective capacity is low. The reduction in processing time variability renders a dramatically improved shop performance.