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To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2005.06.066 Byline: Rajesh Piplani (a), Dennis Wetjens (b) Keywords: Flexible manufacturing systems; Dispatching; Entropic measures of flexibility; Routing flexibility Abstract: Traditionally, part dispatching has been done using static rules, rules that fail to take advantage of the dynamic nature of today's manufacturing systems. In modern manufacturing systems, machines carry multiple tools so parts have the option of being machined at more than one machine. This flexibility, termed routing flexibility in the literature, opens up new possibilities for shop floor planners for the scheduling and dispatching of parts. In this paper, we give some background of manufacturing system flexibility, including its measurements. We also present quantifiable measures of flexibility and discuss part dispatching based on entropic measures of part routing flexibilities. Two rules for parts dispatching, namely 'least reduction in entropy' and 'least relative reduction in entropy' are presented. It is proposed that to take advantage of system flexibility, parts dispatching rules based on flexibility measures should be used, especially in systems with high breakdown rates. An extensive simulation study is conducted to evaluate the performance of the dispatching rules. The simulation study confirms that entropy-based dispatching rules out-perform traditional dispatching. Author Affiliation: (a) Center for Supply Chain Management, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technology University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore (b) Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Article History: Received 13 July 2004; Accepted 30 June 2005

A method of parts dispatching based on entropy, a principle of thermodynamics in flexible manufacturing process, is evaluated.

The evaluation approach specifically focusing on the supply-side collaboration on inventory decisions between a supplier and a distributor in a two-echelon supply chain are presented. The numerical experiments prove that the supply-side collaboration has the ability to improve the supply chain performance in terms of better stabilizing effect and service level.

Research is presented concerning the development of a model for the analysis of coordinated inventories of supply chains through the utilization of common time periods or replenishment epochs.