Operations Management: An Integrated Approach, 5th Edition

SCHEDULING WORK

Infinite loading

Scheduling that calculates the capacity needed at work centers in the time period needed without regard to the capacity available to do the work.

Finite loading

Scheduling that loads work centers up to a predetermined amount of capacity.

Two kinds of work scheduling or work loading are infinite loading and finite loading. Infinite loading schedules work without regard to capacity limits. They let you know how much capacity you need to meet a schedule.

Infinite Loading

Manufacturing companies can use infinite loading according to a proposed master production schedule (MPS). A service organization like a law firm can use infinite loading to identify the resources needed to complete the proposed case load. Infinite loading identifies uneven workloads and bottlenecks. Figure 15-3 is an example of infinite loading. We can see from the chart that the shop has enough capacity in periods 4 and 7 but not enough capacity in periods 5 and 8. In this way, we identify time periods when capacity is either poorly used or inadequate and change the schedule to level the resource requirements.

FIGURE 15-3 Infinite loading

Finite Loading

Finite loading is an operational ...