ABSTRACT
Production scheduling has been studied intensively since the 1950s, mainly within the realms of operational research, management science and operations management. From the 1960s onwards, the disciplines within which production scheduling has been studied have expanded, with research being carried out in artificial intelligence, business and management, ergonomics/human factors and the social sciences. Concurrently within industry, the focus also broadened. The development of information technology in the 1980s saw manufacturing industry attempting to reduce the human input into the planning and scheduling process by automating the decision making functions. This task proved more onerous than expected and industry has now largely accepted that removing the human element from the process was not an appropriate course of action. It is now widely accepted within academia and industry that human planners and schedulers are essential elements for an effective planning and scheduling process.
