| This research examines the performance of job shops with different machine layouts and production control systems. The job shops examined operate in a make-to-order environment, in which the time horizon is divided into order-entry-periods of equal length. Customer orders received within a particular order entry period are promised a common delivery date.;Using computer simulation, a four-factor comparison of the shops is performed. The first two factors, machine layout and production control system, are the main focus of the investigation. The other two factors, setup-to-processing-time ratio and length of the order-entry-period, are included primarily to control the confounding effects that these factors might have on the performance of the simulated job shop.;Customer orders are processed using four different arrangements of machine layouts and production control systems. The two different machine layouts, the process layout and the cellular layout, are implemented as two alternative approaches in arranging the machines in the component fabrication department; and the two different production control systems, Material Requirements Planning and Period Batch Control, are modeled as two different order-release-and-due-date assignment procedures for the component and assembly orders.;The results indicate that the Material Requirements Planning order-release-and-due-assignment procedure always performs better than Period Batch Control. The cellular layout, however, performs better at a high setup-to-processing-time ratio, while the process layout performs better at a low setup-to-processing-time ratio. |
