QUESTION TWO $[35]$

Read the extract below and answer the questions that follow:

Scheduling is one of the most important factors in the success of any logistics chain. Done right, it can drive revenue. Done poorly, it can cause your whole operation to come to a grinding halt.

Scheduling logistics means planning specific days and times to complete each movement of a product or service through a workflow or pipeline. This can include everything from procuring parts for production to dropping your packaged product off at your customer$$s door.

The most important thing is to inform customers of the availability of the products, so that end users can hold the product in their hands on the release day. Scheduling involves taking decisions regarding the allocation of available capacity or resources $($equipment$,$ labour and space$)$ to jobs, activities, tasks or customers over time. Scheduling thus results in a time$-$phased plan, or schedule of activities. The schedule indicates what is to be done, when, by whom and with what equipment. Scheduling seeks to achieve several conflicting objectives: high efficiency, low inventories and good customer service. Scheduling can be classified by the type of process: line, batch and project.

With reference to the above information,

$2\mathrm{.}1$ Determine how backward scheduling approach influences better risk management and scalability. $(15)$

$2\mathrm{.}2$ Evaluate the basic scheduling rules that can be implemented to meet the expected job completion times. $(20)$