---
_id: '13337'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: In manufacturing systems with a job shop organization, queues between workstations
    create an intermittent process flow, allowing workers to schedule tasks entering
    the queue based on their needs and preferences. The resulting scheduling autonomy
    of individual workers often leads to inefficiencies in the overall production
    process due to the loss of control. Companies are therefore increasingly using
    algorithmic scheduling systems to assign task sequences to workers, thereby drastically
    reducing their autonomy and negatively affecting their job performance and well-being.
    This paper extends the existing flexible job shop scheduling problem by sequencing
    preferences (FJSPSP) to incorporate a human-centered perspective by predicting
    workers’ task sequencing decisions using learning-to-rank (LTR) methods. By learning
    workers’ individual task sequencing preferences, it becomes possible to predict
    the processing sequence based on task characteristics. The scheduling algorithm
    for the FJSPSP presented in the paper incorporates workers’ learned sequencing
    preferences as constraints. Considering workers’ learned task sequencing decisions,
    the FJSPSP optimizes only task assignments to maintain workers’ autonomy over
    task sequences. The contributions of this paper are fourfold, namely, (1) presenting
    an approach to elicit sequencing decision datasets from workers, (2) demonstrating
    the successful prediction of humans’ and an actual worker’s task sequencing decisions
    with LTR, (3) formulating the FJSPSP variant that integrates workers’ sequencing
    preferences as constraints and proving its effectiveness in a simulation study,
    and (4) consolidating these steps into an explainable artificial intelligence
    (XAI)- and LTR-enabled sociotechnical system design framework. The paper closes
    with a discussion of the overall methodology and future research perspectives.
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Jan-Phillip
  full_name: Herrmann, Jan-Phillip
  id: '86180'
  last_name: Herrmann
- first_name: Sven
  full_name: Tackenberg, Sven
  id: '71470'
  last_name: Tackenberg
- first_name: Tharsika Pakeerathan
  full_name: Srirajan, Tharsika Pakeerathan
  last_name: Srirajan
- first_name: Verena
  full_name: Nitsch, Verena
  last_name: Nitsch
citation:
  ama: 'Herrmann JP, Tackenberg S, Srirajan TP, Nitsch V. Incorporating scheduling
    autonomy of workers into flexible job shop scheduling: Learning and balancing
    decentralized task sequencing decisions with overall scheduling performance. <i>Journal
    of Manufacturing Systems</i>. 2026;84(2):541-560. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2025.12.020">10.1016/j.jmsy.2025.12.020</a>'
  apa: 'Herrmann, J.-P., Tackenberg, S., Srirajan, T. P., &#38; Nitsch, V. (2026).
    Incorporating scheduling autonomy of workers into flexible job shop scheduling:
    Learning and balancing decentralized task sequencing decisions with overall scheduling
    performance. <i>Journal of Manufacturing Systems</i>, <i>84</i>(2), 541–560. <a
    href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2025.12.020">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2025.12.020</a>'
  bjps: '<b>Herrmann J-P <i>et al.</i></b> (2026) Incorporating Scheduling Autonomy
    of Workers into Flexible Job Shop Scheduling: Learning and Balancing Decentralized
    Task Sequencing Decisions with Overall Scheduling Performance. <i>Journal of Manufacturing
    Systems</i> <b>84</b>, 541–560.'
  chicago: 'Herrmann, Jan-Phillip, Sven Tackenberg, Tharsika Pakeerathan Srirajan,
    and Verena Nitsch. “Incorporating Scheduling Autonomy of Workers into Flexible
    Job Shop Scheduling: Learning and Balancing Decentralized Task Sequencing Decisions
    with Overall Scheduling Performance.” <i>Journal of Manufacturing Systems</i>
    84, no. 2 (2026): 541–60. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2025.12.020">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2025.12.020</a>.'
  chicago-de: 'Herrmann, Jan-Phillip, Sven Tackenberg, Tharsika Pakeerathan Srirajan
    und Verena Nitsch. 2026. Incorporating scheduling autonomy of workers into flexible
    job shop scheduling: Learning and balancing decentralized task sequencing decisions
    with overall scheduling performance. <i>Journal of Manufacturing Systems</i> 84,
    Nr. 2: 541–560. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2025.12.020">10.1016/j.jmsy.2025.12.020</a>,
    .'
  din1505-2-1: '<span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Herrmann, Jan-Phillip</span>
    ; <span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Tackenberg, Sven</span> ; <span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Srirajan,
    Tharsika Pakeerathan</span> ; <span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Nitsch, Verena</span>:
    Incorporating scheduling autonomy of workers into flexible job shop scheduling:
    Learning and balancing decentralized task sequencing decisions with overall scheduling
    performance. In: <i>Journal of Manufacturing Systems</i> Bd. 84. Amsterdam, Elsevier
    BV (2026), Nr. 2, S. 541–560'
  havard: 'J.-P. Herrmann, S. Tackenberg, T.P. Srirajan, V. Nitsch, Incorporating
    scheduling autonomy of workers into flexible job shop scheduling: Learning and
    balancing decentralized task sequencing decisions with overall scheduling performance,
    Journal of Manufacturing Systems. 84 (2026) 541–560.'
  ieee: 'J.-P. Herrmann, S. Tackenberg, T. P. Srirajan, and V. Nitsch, “Incorporating
    scheduling autonomy of workers into flexible job shop scheduling: Learning and
    balancing decentralized task sequencing decisions with overall scheduling performance,”
    <i>Journal of Manufacturing Systems</i>, vol. 84, no. 2, pp. 541–560, 2026, doi:
    <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2025.12.020">10.1016/j.jmsy.2025.12.020</a>.'
  mla: 'Herrmann, Jan-Phillip, et al. “Incorporating Scheduling Autonomy of Workers
    into Flexible Job Shop Scheduling: Learning and Balancing Decentralized Task Sequencing
    Decisions with Overall Scheduling Performance.” <i>Journal of Manufacturing Systems</i>,
    vol. 84, no. 2, 2026, pp. 541–60, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2025.12.020">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2025.12.020</a>.'
  short: J.-P. Herrmann, S. Tackenberg, T.P. Srirajan, V. Nitsch, Journal of Manufacturing
    Systems 84 (2026) 541–560.
  ufg: '<b>Herrmann, Jan-Phillip u. a.</b>: Incorporating scheduling autonomy of workers
    into flexible job shop scheduling: Learning and balancing decentralized task sequencing
    decisions with overall scheduling performance, in: <i>Journal of Manufacturing
    Systems</i> 84 (2026), H. 2,  S. 541–560.'
  van: 'Herrmann JP, Tackenberg S, Srirajan TP, Nitsch V. Incorporating scheduling
    autonomy of workers into flexible job shop scheduling: Learning and balancing
    decentralized task sequencing decisions with overall scheduling performance. Journal
    of Manufacturing Systems. 2026;84(2):541–60.'
date_created: 2026-01-12T08:29:09Z
date_updated: 2026-01-12T08:54:27Z
department:
- _id: DEP7027
doi: 10.1016/j.jmsy.2025.12.020
intvolume: '        84'
issue: '2'
keyword:
- Human-centered scheduling
- Job autonomy
- Learning-to-rank
- Flexible job shop scheduling
- Human decision-making
- Explainable artificial intelligence
language:
- iso: eng
page: 541-560
place: Amsterdam
publication: Journal of Manufacturing Systems
publication_identifier:
  issn:
  - 0278-6125
publication_status: published
publisher: Elsevier BV
quality_controlled: '1'
status: public
title: 'Incorporating scheduling autonomy of workers into flexible job shop scheduling:
  Learning and balancing decentralized task sequencing decisions with overall scheduling
  performance'
type: scientific_journal_article
user_id: '83781'
volume: 84
year: '2026'
...