cases & readings
In Chapter 11 of the book we have some descriptions of system implementations. We describe one system for project scheduling and management for the management of outages of nuclear reactors.
We describe also a system that does operator scheduling (workforce scheduling) for ATT. Again, the system is described in detail, but no data (yet).
There are a couple of Harvard cases that an instructor may want to consider when you teach the course:
- Blanchard (Harvard case) to illustrate lot sizing and scheduling (Ch. 7)
- Donner (Harvard case). You may not want to do this case in detail. However, there are some very nice diagrams in that case that describe a flow shop for printed circuit board manufacturing. This goes well with Ch. 5.
- Digital Equipment Corporation: The Endpoint Model (A) (Harvard Case). This case describes what can be done with MRP-II and what cannot be done. It gives a good description of the general environment in which scheduling has to be done.
There are also some cases and readings in other books that you may want to look at:
- Plant tours in Production/Operations Management (by Schmenner) Chapter 2 - A Job Shop (this would go well with Chapter 5).
- Cases and Readings in Management Science (2nd Edition) (by Render, Stair and Greenberg) Reading 22 - Pert and Pert/cost for audit planning and control. (This would go well with Chapter 4).
- Case Studies in Service Operations (by Colley) Case 26 - Instructional Note - Network planning/Scheduling Techniques for Project Management: Critical Path Analysis Case 27 - Big "A" Cola Company: Critical Path Analysis. (This would go well with Chapter 4).
- Service Management: Operations, Strategy, and Information Technology (by Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons) Chapter 8: Managing Service Projects (Project Scheduling) Chapter 13: Managing Capacity and Demand (Workforce Scheduling and Yield Management)
- Queueing methods for services and manufacturing (By Hall) Case Study - An Integrated Work Shift Scheduling System (pp. 257-269) (This would go well with Chapter 9).
- Improving Shop Floor Operations through Production Sequencing at EMC technology, by Louis Joy III and Francis Smith, National Productivity Review, Spring 1998, pp. 19-28. (Reprinted also in Annual Editions Production and Operations Management 00/01, P.K. Shukla (Editor), Dushkin/McGraw-Hill.
On several websites there are white papers or case studies concerning scheduling problems in industry that can be downloaded.
ILOG (http://www.ilog.com)
Manugistics (http://www.manugistics.com)