Investigating the Application of the Theory of Constraints to the Scheduling Environment of the IAF's Depots

Abstract

This research investigated the application and merits of the Theory of Constraints (TOC) to the scheduling environment of the Israeli Air Force's (IAF) maintenance depots. TOC was extensively reviewed including an elaboration of the TOC paradigm and the scheduling procedures developed for a commercial manufacturing setting. Background information was also presented on the IAF depots and traditional scheduling rules. An experiment was designed and conducted that simulated a simplified version of the process flow of the armaments depot. the simulation compared the terms of lower inventory and makespan. The experiment did not conclusively show any difference in standard throughput hours as a result of the TOC schedule. These results were statistically validated. it was concluded that the core scheduling procedure of TOC, specifically the concept of drum-buffer-rope and buffer management were applicable to the depot environment and provided advantages over the traditional depot schedule. Difficulties were found in defining a uniform measurement for throughput and inventory for the depot environment.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA231278

Entities

People

  • Lewis S. Trigger

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Advanced Manufacturing
  • Business Administration
  • Databases
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Failure Mode And Effect Analysis
  • Inventory
  • Lead Time
  • Maintenance
  • Manufacturing
  • Measurement
  • Operations Management
  • Organizational Structure
  • Psychology
  • Scheduling (Production)
  • Simulations
  • Standards

Readers

  • Logistics and Supply Chain Management.
  • Operations Research
  • Theoretical Analysis.