The design of simple subcontracting rules for make-to-order shops : an assessment by simulation

Thurer, Matthias and Stevenson, Mark and Qu, Ting and Filho, Moacir (2014) The design of simple subcontracting rules for make-to-order shops : an assessment by simulation. European Journal of Operational Research, 239 (3). pp. 854-864. ISSN 0377-2217

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Abstract

Subcontracting can be an important means of overcoming capacity shortages and of workload balancing, especially in make-to-order companies characterized by high variety, high demand variation and a job shop configuration. But there is a lack of simple, yet powerful subcontracting rules suitable for such contexts. The few existing rules were developed for single work center shops and neglect the actual subcontracting lead time, meaning some subcontracted jobs are destined to become tardy. This study uses Workload Control theory on matching required and available capacity over time to propose four new rules that address these shortcomings. The new rules are compared against four existing rules using an assembly job shop simulation model where the final, assembled product consists of several sub-assemblies that either flow through an internal job shop or are subcontracted. The best new rules stabilize the direct load queuing in front of a work center and significantly improve performance compared to the existing rules. For example, when the workload exceeds capacity by 10%, a 50% reduction in percentage tardy can be achieved. By examining how the workload behaves over time, we reveal that improvements come from selectively subcontracting the sub-assemblies that would otherwise cause overloads, thereby cutting off peaks in the workload.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
European Journal of Operational Research
Additional Information:
The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, European Journal of Operational Research 239 (3), 2014, © ELSEVIER
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2600/2611
Subjects:
?? productionsubcontractingmake-to-orderworkload controljob shopmodelling and simulationmanagement science and operations researchinformation systems and management ??
ID Code:
69731
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
27 Jun 2014 10:37
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
29 Mar 2024 00:54