Online workload control with shifting bottlenecks and due date constraints

In this paper an adaptive order release strategy for job shop production with well-defined routes is presented. The release strategy is a combination of different known methods. It balances altering machine load of a plant due to different products produced in the job shop. Additionally the constraint of the due date of each individual order is kept. Balanced load on all machines is achieved by controlling the sequence of order release and the release time. For the adjustment of the controller only the desired average WIP (Work in Process) of each machine has to be set. The strategy is tested with two plant models based on Petri net simulations.