In the present study, an integrated methodology of manufacturing planning has been formalised for a capacity constrained job-shop with consideration of capacity planning, loading, scheduling, and process plans flexibility for a given master production schedule. This study aims at generation of production schedules that are compatible with production plans developed at a higher level for feasible implementation at the shop floor. Performance of methodology is assessed for eight case studies from mean tardiness viewpoint. Results indicate that formalised integrated methodology is effective in the complex job-shop environment. Further, mean tardiness performance of integrated methodology is found better than that of the conventional hierarchical approach of manufacturing planning.

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INTRODUCTIONProduction planning (including materials planning) and scheduling are considered as the most significant activities in manufacturing firms for manufacturing planning and control (MPC). In the past, various approaches of MPC such as hierarchical production planning (HPP), material requirement planning (MRP), just-in time, hybrid systems and advanced planning and scheduling systems (APS) are developed by researchers and practitioners in order to address problems of production planning and scheduling in make-to-order (MTO) environment. Conventionally, production planning and scheduling activities are performed separately and in a hierarchical fashion. It results in production schedules that are unfeasible at the shop floor and require frequent changes to meet the strategic objectives of a firm such as supplying production orders at mutually agreed due dates to win over the confidence of customers. Customer confidence is vital to ensure reputation and profitability of a firm over a long period of time. The other approaches improve upon traditional approach, i.e., HPP. However, there is a need to formalize an integration methodology that overcomes shortcomings of available approaches. This can be done by integrating production planning and scheduling functions in the best possible manner. Thus, aim of the present paper is to formalize an approach for integrated production planning and scheduling that result in a feasible and efficient schedule.The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents a review of the literature in the area of integrated production planning and scheduling. The formalized methodology for integration of production planning and scheduling is presented in Section 3. Section 4 presents the results obtained from the formalized methodology. Finally, A capacity constrained integrated production planning and scheduling framework for a manufacturing firm operating in make-to-order environment, has been formalized. It primarily aims at the generation of shop floor schedules that are feasible with production plans generated at a higher level, practical and efficient at the shop floor. The formalized framework integrates capacity planning, loading and scheduling activities of a job-shop with consideration of process plans flexibility. The performance of framework is assessed through two case studies. Experimental investigation reveals that shop utilization level considered at capacity planning level affects master production schedule and system performance. Further, presence of multiple process plans improves system performance; especially, they assist in reducing the number of tardy part-types. Moreover, shortest processing time dispatching rule performs better than earliest due date during scheduling.conclusions from the present work along with future scope of work are presented in Section 5. LITERATURE REVIEWSeveral researchers contributed in the area of integrated production planning and scheduling and termed it as APS system. Riane et al.[1] designed a simulation based ...