Human Performance in Planning and Scheduling

Understanding how to make the best of human skills and knowledge is essential in the design of technology and jobs, particularly where these involve decision-making and uncertainty. Recent developments have been made in naturalistic decision-making, distributed cognition and situational awareness, particularly with respect to aviation, transport and strategic planning, the nuclear industry and other high-risk industries.Despite the integration of computer-based support systems in production scheduling in recent years, the reality is that most enterprises consist of reactive re-scheduling, involving a high degree of human involvement. It is often with the insight, knowledge and skills of people that scheduling skills can function with any degree of success.Human Performance in Planning and Scheduling covers many industries, including clothing, steel, machine tools, paper/board, and the automobile industry. Using international case studies from various manufacturing industries, they highlight the fact that the human scheduler is a pivotal element in the scheduling process. Each section of the book includes an introduction with an overview of the material to follow, clearly identifying themes, discussion points and highlights inter-connections between the authors' work.

PART ONE: THE RE-EMERGENCE OF THE DOMAIN 1. Introduction and Context 2. From Anecdotes to Theory Part Two: Field Studies of Planners, Schedulers and Industrial Practice 3. . The Scheduler-Supervisor Relationship: Linking Schedule Generation and Schedule Execution 4. Investigating the Planning and Scheduling System of a Company: A Case Study of a Clothing Manufacturer 5. Accounting for the Human in Scheduling Systems: A Sociotechnical View 6. Capturing and Understanding the Job of a Scheduler in Manufacturing: A Detailed Case Study 7. Human Factors in the Planning and Scheduling of Flexible Manufacturing Systems 8. A Case Study of Scheduling Practice at a Machine Tool Manufacturer 9. Part Three: 9. Design of a Knowledge Based Scheduling System for a Paper/Board Manufacturer 10. Design and Implementation of an Effective Decision Support System: A Case Study in the Steel Industry 11. A Field Test of a Prototype Scheduling System in a Machine Tool Manufacturer 12. Architecture and Interface Aspects of Scheduling Decision Support 13. Designing and Using an Integrated Production Planning System Based on Task Division Between Human and Computer Part Four: Context and Environment for Planning and Scheduling 14. Assessing the Effectiveness of Information for Manufacturing Control 15. Handling Increased Complexity and Product Variety in Automotive Manufacture 16. A Systematic and Sociotechnical Approach for the Design of a Planning and Scheduling System: Towards Controllable Manufacturing Cells 17. A Systems Approach to Human Scheduling 18. The Meaning of Time: A View of Human Planning and Scheduling 19. Ten Years On - A Reflective View of Research on Human Factors in Planning and Scheduling PART FIVE: DEFINING THE FUTURE RESEARCH DOMAIN 20. A Research Agenda 21. Conclusions Context 2. From Anecdotes to Theory Part Two: Field Studies of Planners, Schedulers and Industrial Practice 3. The Scheduler-Supervisor Relationship: Linking Schedule Generation and Schedule Execution 4. Investigating the Planning and Scheduling System of a Company: A Case Study of a Clothing Manufacturer 5. Accounting for the Human in Scheduling Systems: A Sociotechnical View 6. Capturing and Understanding the Job of a Scheduler in Manufacturing: A Detailed Case Study 7. Human Factors in the Planning and Scheduling of Flexible Manufacturing Systems 8. A Case Study of Scheduling Practice at a Machine Tool Manufacturer Part Three: 9. Design of a Knowledge Based Scheduling System for a Paper Board Manufacturer 10. Design and Implementation of an Effective Decision Support System: A Case Study in the Steel Industry 11. A Field Test of a Prototype Scheduling System in a Machine Tool Manufacturer 12. Architecture and Interface Aspects of Scheduling Decision Support 13. Designing and Using an Integrated Production Planning System Based on Task Division Between Human and Computer Part Four: Context and Environment for Planning and Scheduling 14. Assessing the Effectiveness of Information for Manufacturing Control 15. Handling Increased Complexity and Product Variety in Automotive Manufacture 16. A Systematic and Sociotechnical Approach for the Design of a Planning and Scheduling System: Towards Controllable Manufacturing Cells 17. A Systems Approach to Human Scheduling 18. The Meaning of Time: A View of Human Planning and Scheduling 19. Ten Years On - A Reflective View of Research on Human Factors in Planning and Scheduling Part Five: Defining the Future Research Domain 20. A Research Agenda 21. Conclusions

B L MacCarthy, John R. Wilson