制造设施的车间调度是一项复杂的任务，目前主要通过手动方式完成。任务是复杂的，因为有大量的约束要考虑；该设施非常动态，发生的意外事件使之前制定的计划失效；调度过程非常耗时，通常没有时间开发和评估多个版本。本文讨论了周期调度的概念，因为它与计算机模拟有关，以帮助克服前面提到的创建车间调度的问题。许多美国制造公司已经实施了基于模拟的调度。本文描述了三个案例，并总结了从中吸取的经验教训和已实现的重大效益。

SHOP FLOOR SCHEDULING OF A MANUFACTURING FACILITY IS A COMPLEX TASK THAT IS DONE TODAY LARGELY BY MANUAL MEANS. THE TASK IS COMPLEX BECAUSE THERE ARE A LARGE NUMBER OF CONSTRAINTS TO CONSIDER; THE FACILITY IS VERY DYNAMIC AND UNFORESEEN EVENTS OCCUR THAT INVALIDATE PREVIOUSLY DEVELOPED SCHEDULES; AND THE SCHEDULING PROCESS IS TIME-CONSUMING AND THERE IS NORMALLY NOT TIME TO DEVELOP AND EVALUATE MORE THAN ONE VERSION. THIS PAPER DISCUSSES THE CONCEPT OF PERIODIC SCHEDULING AS IT RELATES TO COMPUTER SIMULATION TO HELP OVERCOME THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED PROBLEMS IN THE CREATION OF SHOP FLOOR SCHEDULES. SIMULATION-BASED SCHEDULING HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED BY A NUMBER OF U.S. MANUFACTURING COMPANIES. THIS PAPER DESCRIBES THREE CASES AND SUMMARIZES SOME LESSONS LEARNED FROM THEM AND SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS THAT HAVE BEEN REALIZED.