Workload control under diagnosis

Attaining high logistical performance is increasingly important for make-to-order companies. Production planning and control can contribute to achieve this aim. This thesis focuses at Workload Control, a concept especially developed for the make-to-order industry. The thesis aims to foster the understanding of the concept and to improve its functioning. Insights are gained from an EU subsidized research project, in which several empirical studies have been carried out. The first part of the thesis presents new diagnosis instruments that help to carry out a complete and structured diagnosis of delivery performance in practice, by attributing causes of performance gaps to underlying production planning and control decisions. The second part of the thesis provides new insights into the functioning of the Workload Control concept, both to improve its applicability in a practical dynamic setting and to extend the applicability area of the concept.