Bill Edstrom, managing partner at a biomedical consulting firm, has requested your expert advice in devising the best schedule for the following consulting projects, starting on February 2.

Description of Consultation Call Received Due Date

(close of Task Length Company Date Time business)

I 3 days Novartis Corp. February 1

9 A.M.

February 5

II 1 day Reardon Biotech Corp.

February 1

10 A.M.

February 6

III 2 days Vertex Pharmaceuticals February 1

11 A.M.

February 8

IV 2 days OSI Pharmaceuticals February 1

1 P.M.

February 7

The consulting firm charges a flat rate of $4,000 per day. All four firms impose fines for lateness. Reardon Biotech charges a $500-perday fine for each day that the completion of the consulting work is past the due date; Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, and OSI Pharmaceuticals all charge a fine of $1,500 per day for each day late.

Prepare alternative schedules based on the following priority rules:

SOT, FCFS, EDD, STR, and another rule—longest processing time

(LPT), which orders jobs according to longest assigned first, secondlongest assigned second, and so on. For the sake of simplicity, assume that consulting work is performed seven days a week. Which rule provides Bill with the best schedule? Why?

WT-202