Tzen, Ya-juei Jeffrey creator Shanker, Kripa Chairperson Tabucanon, Mario T. Examination Committee Oudheusden, Dirk L. Van Examination Committee BES Engineering Corporation Taiwan, Republic of China Scholarship Donor text series technical report th Bangkok Asian Institute of Technology 1983 continuing eng 1 v. (various pagings) Scheduling problem in a flexible manufacturing system (FMS ) is considered to be a composite of two interdependent tasks: loading and sequencing. This study provides two formulations for the loading problem in a random FMS: (i) minimization of system unbalance, (ii) minimization of system unbalance and the number of late jobs. Both the formulations include the constraints such as the number of tool slots, unique routing, non-splitting of jobs, and machine capacity. Heuristic methods corresponding to each formulation are developed. The performance of the heuristics is demonstrated for a hypothetical FMS by comparing the solution results with those given by exact solution technique using MIP/370. The GPSS V is then used to simulate the system for investigating the system performance for the problem of minimizing the system unbalance using the heuristic and sequential loading methods in conjunction with four dispatching rules. A research study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology Research Studies Project Report (M. Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1983 Loading and unloading Asian Institute of Technology. http://203.159.5.9/ait-thesis/detail.php?q=B20902 http://203.159.5.9/ait-thesis/detail.php?q=B20902 121095 20260818153620.0