Comparing variance reduction to managing system variance in a job shop

Variance within the manufacturing system leads to uneven shop loads, long manufacturing lead times, and unreliable customer service. This study compares techniques that reduce system variance to techniques that manage system variance. The study is placed in a dual resource constrained job shop. Results indicate that reducing system variance improves flow time and customer service performance measures, such as mean tardiness and percent tardy jobs more than techniques that react to system variance. q 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.