A History of Production Scheduling - Chapter 1 - Introduction and foremen rule the shop

Sep 11, 2026

Uploaded by Sage

A History of Production Scheduling traces how manufacturing scheduling practices evolved over the past century, from early visual planning tools such as Henry Gantt charts to modern computer-based systems driven by sophisticated algorithms. The chapter frames scheduling around the two core problems of priorities and capacity, defining detailed scheduling as assigning start and completion dates to operations to ensure timely completion. It also explains dynamic dispatching strategies and clarifies the chapter’s scope by focusing on manufacturing operations rather than high-volume sequencing or general project management.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

1. INTRODUCTION

2. FOREMEN RULE THE SHOP

Chapter 1 A HISTORY OF PRODUCTION SCHEDULING Jeffrey W.HerrmannUniversity of Maryland,College Park This chapter describes the hstory of production scheduling in manufacturingfacilities over the last 100 years.Understanding the ways that productionscheduling has been done is critical to analyzing existing productionscheduling systems and finding ways to improve them.The chapter covers notonly the tools used to support decision-making in real-world productionscheduling but also the changes in the production scheduling systems.Thisstory goes from the first charts developed by Henry Gantt to advancedscheduling systems that rely on sophisticated algorithms.The goal of thechapter is to help production schedulers,engineers,and researchers understandthe true nature of production scheduling in dynamic manufacturing systemsand to encourage them to consider how production scheduling systems can beimproved even more.This chapter not only reviews the range of concepts andapproaches used to improve production scheduling but also demonstrates theirtimeless importance. Abstract: Key words:Production scheduling,history,Gantt charts,computer-based scheduling # 1. INTRODUCTION This chapter describes the history of production scheduling inmanufacturing facilities over the last 100 years.Understanding the waysthat production scheduling has been done is critical to analyzing existingproduction scheduling systems and finding ways to improve them. The two key problems in production scheduling are,according to Wight(1984),"priorities”and “capacity."In other words,"What should be donefirst?”and “Who should do it?”Wight defines scheduling as “establishingthe timing for performing a task”and observes that,in a manufacturingfirms,there are multiple types of scheduling,including the detailedscheduling of a shop order that shows when each operation must start and Chapter 1 complete.Cox et al.(1992)define detailed scheduling as "the actualassignment of starting and/or completion dates to operations or groups ofoperations to show when these must be done if the manufacturing order is tobe completed on time."They note that this is also known as operationsscheduling,order scheduling,and shop scheduling. This chapter isconcerned with this type of scheduling. One type of dynamic scheduling strategy is to use dispatching rules todetermine,when a resource becomes available,which task that resourceshould do next.Such rules are common in facilities where many schedulingdecisions must be made in a short period of time,as in semiconductor waferfabrication facilities(which are discussed in another chapter of this book). This chapter discusses the history of production scheduling.It covers notonly the tools used to support decision-making in real-world productionscheduling but also the changes in the production scheduling systems.Thisstory goes from the first charts developed by Henry Gantt to advancedscheduling systems that rely on sophisticated algorithms.The goal of thechapter is to help production schedulers,engineers,and researchersunderstand the true nature of production scheduling in dynamicmanufacturing systems and to encourage them to consider how productionscheduling systems can be improved even more.This review demonstratesthe timeless importance of production scheduling and the range ofapproaches taken to improve it. This chapter does not address the sequencing of parts processed in high-volume,repetitive manufacturing systems.In such settings,one can look toJIT and lean manufacturing principles for how to control production.Theseapproaches generally do not need the same type of production schedulesdiscussed here. Although project scheduling will be discussed,the chapter is primarilyconcerned with the scheduling of manufacturing operations,not generalproject management.Note finally that this chapter is not a review of theproduction scheduling literature,which would take an entire volume. For a more general discussion of the hi

FAQs

What are the two key problems in production scheduling mentioned in the chapter?

The chapter identifies priorities and capacity as the two key problems, phrased as “What should be done first?” and “Who should do it?”

How does the chapter define detailed scheduling?

Detailed scheduling is defined as assigning starting and/or completion dates to operations (or groups of operations) so the manufacturing order is completed on time.

What scheduling topic does the chapter primarily focus on?

It primarily focuses on scheduling manufacturing operations (specifically detailed/operations-style scheduling), not the sequencing of parts in high-volume repetitive systems or general project management.

Sep 11, 2026

Uploaded by Sage