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Dynamic scheduling to minimize lost sales subject to set-up costs

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Abstract

We consider scheduling a shared server in a two-class, make-to-stock, closed queueing network. We include server switching costs and lost sales costs (equivalently, server starvation penalties) for lost jobs. If the switching costs are zero, the optimal policy has a monotonic threshold type of switching curve provided that the service times are identical. For completely symmetric systems without set-ups, it is optimal to serve the longer queue. Using simple analytical models as approximations, we derive a heuristic scheduling policy. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of our heuristic, which is typically within 10% of optimal. We also develop and test a heuristic policy for a model in which the shared resource is part of a series network under a CONWIP release policy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 3E6

    Eungab Kim

  2. Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208-3119, USA

    Mark P. Van Oyen

Authors
  1. Eungab Kim
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  2. Mark P. Van Oyen
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Kim, E., Van Oyen, M.P. Dynamic scheduling to minimize lost sales subject to set-up costs. Queueing Systems 29, 193–229 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019136231100

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