The Impact of Learning and Labor Attrition on Worker Flexibility in Dual Resource Constrained Job Shops

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of worker learning, worker flexibility, and labor attrition on the system performance of a dual resource constrained (DRC) job-shop. The effects of learning and labor attrition have not been previously addressed in DRC literature. Results from the study, consistent with previous literature, show that the greatest benefits are achieved when inter-departmental worker flexibility is incrementally introduced into the system. In addition, the learning environment, which depends on the initial processing time of jobs and the learning rates of workers, is shown to impact the acquisition of flexibility. The study also shows that the impact of labor attrition on system performance under certain shop conditions may be significant. Subject Areas: Production/Operations Management and Simulation.

Worker flexibility in a parallel dual resource constrained job shop

“…If workers are trained to work in a different number of departments, it is termed an unequal distribution of skills. These basic aspects of worker flexibility have been addressed by a significant amount of research (Allen 1963, Nelson 1967, Malhotra et al 1993, Brusco and Johns 1998, Kher et al 1999, Molleman and Slomp 1999, Felan and Fry 2001, Slomp and Molleman 2002, Hopp et al 2004, Inman et al 2004. In this paper, the issues of worker flexibility will be explored in an environment that has received limited attention in the published literature.…”

Worker deployment in dual resource constrained systems with a task-type factor

“…Note that a maximum of three workstations is used because of the Malhotra et al (1993) finding that cross-training workers in more than three departments worsens system performance Centralization of control (ÔwhenÕ rule) 3…”

“…The levels chosen for worker forgetting rates were justified by Malhotra et al (1993) as representing a relatively challenging, machine-paced environment. The range of centralization of control levels is appropriate given the transfer time penalties associated with the levels of forgetting used (Kher et al, 1999).…”

Cross-training workers in Dual Resource Constrained systems with heterogeneous processing times

“…Malhotra et al 1993, McCreery and Krajewski 1999, Yue et al 2008. One of the findings is that increased worker flexibility may not always be beneficial for system-wide performance.…”

“…It is well known that full flexibility is often not necessary since about the same performance can be obtained with less flexibility (e.g. Malhotra et al 1993, Fry et al 1995, Campbell 1999). …”