IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ids/ijisen/v3y2008i1p53-69.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Managing the effects of variability in drum-buffer-rope systems

Author

Listed:
  • Riham A. Khalil
  • David J. Stockton
  • John A. Fresco

Abstract

Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR) planning and control provides synchronous flow through work areas using minimum amounts of in-process buffer stocks. However, the effectiveness of DBR is compromised by high levels of variability which can cause constraint resources to shift between processes resulting in DBR schedules, buffer positions and buffer sizes becoming ineffective in ensuring maximum system throughput levels. A methodology is presented for measuring the levels of variability at single processes, by combining the variability arising from various sources, such that improved identification of actual and potential constraint resources may be possible. Cycle time probability distributions are developed for individual processes which are then used to identify the relative levels of blocking and waiting that may arise due to differences in variability levels between sequential processes. Using this information, a wider range of methods can then be used to offset the effects of variability and improve the effectiveness of DBR systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Riham A. Khalil & David J. Stockton & John A. Fresco, 2008. "Managing the effects of variability in drum-buffer-rope systems," International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 3(1), pages 53-69.
    • Handle: RePEc:ids:ijisen:v:3:y:2008:i:1:p:53-69
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=15914
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ids:ijisen:v:3:y:2008:i:1:p:53-69. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sarah Parker (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php?journalID=188 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.