Operations Management: Sustainability and Supply Chain Management, Twelfth Edition

The Importance of Short-Term Scheduling

Alaska Airlines doesn’t just schedule its 150 aircraft every day; it also schedules over 4,500 pilots and flight attendants to accommodate passengers seeking timely arrival at their destinations. This schedule, developed with huge computer programs, plays a major role in meeting customer expectations. Alaska finds competitive advantage with its ability to make last- minute adjustments to demand fluctuations and weather disruptions.

Scheduling decisions for five organizations—an airline, a hospital, a college, a sports arena, and a manufacturer—are shown in Table 15.1. These decisions all deal with the timing of operations.

When manufacturing firms make schedules that match resources to customer demands, ...