Joint Optimization of Process Flow and Scheduling in Service-Oriented Manufacturing Systems

Customer-oriented management of manufacturing systems is crucial in service-oriented production and product service systems. This paper develops the selection of dispatching rules in combination with alternative process flow designs and demand mix, for a maintenance, repair and overhaul center (MRO) of turbo shaft engines, both for complete engines and engine modules. After an initial systematic screening of priority dispatching rules, the design of experiments and discrete-event simulation allows a quantitative analysis of the better rules for the alternative process flows with internal and service metrics. Next, the design of experiments with analysis of variance and the Taguchi approach enables a search for the optimal combination of process flow and dispatching rules. The consideration of extra costs for overdue work orders into the costing breakdown provides a quantitative evaluation of the optimum range of load for the facility. This facilitates the discussion of the significant trade-offs of cost, service, and flexibility in the production system and the operational management alternatives for decision-making.