Evaluation and comparison of production schedules

The understanding of what constitutes a `good' production schedule is central to the development and evaluation of automated scheduling systems and their implantation in real-world factories. In this paper, we provide a definition of a schedule and discuss potential uses for a schedule within the organization. We then describe a number of different considerations that must be taken into account when assessing the quality of a schedule, and discuss their implications for the design and implementation of scheduling systems.