Adaptive Due Date Deviation Regulation Using Capacity and Order Release Time Adjustment

A control-theoretic, order due date deviation regulation method is presented in this paper for work systems that can dynamically adjust their capacity and order release times. The relationship between due date deviations and work system capacity is shown to be nonlinear and time varying, and a method is presented for characterizing the relationship quantitatively in real time and using this information in an adaptive capacity adjustment control law that maintains favorable dynamic behavior in the presence of the nonlinearities. Control theoretic analyses are included in the paper for designing the dynamic behavior of due date deviations and work system capacity, and results of discrete event simulations driven by industrial data are used to illustrate dynamic behavior. Conclusions are presented regarding the efficacy of combining scheduling and due date deviation regulation and the resulting tradeoffs between due date deviation and capacity.