Stabilizing scheduling policies for a single machine system

A generic manufacturing environment is considered. The emphasis is on the small-lot, discrete and asynchronous type of manufacturing systems rather than high volume and continuous type manufacturing. Two classes of scheduling policies are proposed to render the machine stable. The policies are of feedback type. The new scheduling policies are based on the current buffer conditions of the part types. In the first class, the decision is made based on the current overall buffer level of all part types. In the second class, the decision is based on the processing time of the part types. The decision is made in real time and online