General Tradeoffs Involved in Sequencing and Scheduling Decisions - Assignment Example

The method of collaborative inventory management or transshipment can be used to regulate the inventory level so as to face the unanticipated demands from the customers. A reduced inventory level results in non-satisfaction with the needs of the customers and it also may entail an increase in the holding cost. Transshipment helps to reduce inventory costs and to improve excess levels of inventory.

Scheduling is typically the last step in the makeover process before the actual output is produced.  Commonly, scheduling objectives handle tradeoffs between conflicting goals for proficient utilization of effort and equipment, inventory levels, lead time, and processing times. Efficiency is gained by a timetable that upholds high use of labor, space, and equipment. The schedule also retains low inventories, which may unfortunately result in low efficiency because of a shortage of material available or high setup times. Thus, a decision of tradeoff in scheduling between effectiveness and stock levels is necessary in the short run. Efficiency can be increased in the long run by improving customer service, and concurrently cutting down stock by changing the production process during the time, while reducing cycle time and quality enhancement efforts. Scheduling, thus, is chiefly an activity in the short run that involves tradeoffs between differing objectives.