A machine loading procedure which considers part complexity and machine capability

Abstract

The research described in this paper is concerned with machine loading for jobs entering a job shop. The loading method proposed assigns jobs to machines based on the best match of job attributes with machine capability. A piece part coding system similar to the Opitz method is used to define the job characteristics and a machine capability matrix is specified for each processor in the shop. A loading algorithm called the ‘score rule’ assigns jobs to machines. Shop congestion is also considered in the algorithm.