AN EXPOSITION OF MULTIPLE CONSTRAINT SCHEDULING AS IMPLEMENTED IN THE GOAL SYSTEM (FORMERLY DISASTER_TM)

Abstract

Since Eli Goldratt first appeared on the scene in the late 1970s, his ideas concerning production management have generated a huge amount of interest, controversy, and misunderstanding. These ideas have been proliferated under several names such as optimized production technology (OPT), drum‐buffer‐rope (DBR), synchronized manufacturing (SM), and theory of constraints (TOC). Although there seems to be general agreement on the importance of how capacity‐constrained resources are scheduled, research aimed at advancing the state of the art for the specific problem addressed by DBR continues to be limited by prior misunderstandings and the lack of a rigorous examination by the academic community. This paper seeks “to advance the state of research on constraint scheduling in several ways. First, it presents a concise history of the evolution of DBR. It then explains the use of rods in constraint scheduling. Next, it presents in detail the solution algorithm incorporated by the Goldratt Institute in their production software and, finally, relates that algorithm to alternative methods. In the process of these activities, several lingering misconceptions are resolved.

Improving labour relations performance using a Simplified Drum Buffer Rope (S-DBR) technique

“…This differentiates it from DBR which assumes an internal constraint. While many authors (e.g., Simons and Simpson, 1997;Goldratt, et al, 2002;Schragenheim, et al, 2009) have conceptually described S-DBR, there is a paucity of research empirically testing real-world implementations for how it works. For this reason, Goldratt (2006) developed a Strategy and Tactics (S&T) tree to guide S-DBR implementation.For further information on the use of S&T see Scheinkopf (2010).…”

Deconstructing bottleneck shiftiness: the impact of bottleneck position on order release control in pure flow shops

“…In this study, we focus on Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR; e.g. Goldratt & Cox, 1984;Simons & Simpson, 1997;Watson et al, 2007), Constant Work-in-Process (ConWIP; e.g. Spearman et al, 1990;Hopp & Spearman, 2001), and Workload Control based release methods (e.g.…”

“…It was originally conceived in the 1970s by Eliyahu M. Goldratt as a scheduling algorithm and later developed into a broader production planning and control concept (Simons & Simpson, 1997;Mabin & Balderstone, 2003). One of its main elements is Optimized Production Technology (OPT), a scheduling (or release) mechanism that is now more commonly known as Drum-Buffer-Rope -a descriptor for the way order release is realized (Simons & Simpson, 1997).…”

“…Buffers are time (e.g. Radovilsky, 1998;Schragenheim & Ronen, 1990;Simons & Simpson, 1997;Chakravorty & Atwater, 2005) or a time-equivalent amount of work-in-process. Since, in our study, jobs are considered to be delivered immediately after they are completed, the shipping buffer does not exist.…”

TOC'S Five-Step Cycle: An Approach to Instant Results and Cultural Change

“…Its first application was in production planning and programming to maximize profits and effectiveness related to market demand by identifying and exploring the constraint resources [23], using the Drum-Puffer-Rope (DPR)methodology [24,25] and defining five steps for the TOC process.…”