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The Output Processes of Serial Production Lines of Exponential Machines with Finite Buffers

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  • Kevin B. Hendricks

    (Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia)

Abstract

Little is known about the interaction among the various manufacturing subsystems in a factory. The output of one manufacturing subsystem is usually the input to one or more downstream subsystems in the plant. Examples include the output of one production line being the input to another manufacturing stage, to a shipping system, or to an automated part conveyor. In all these examples, the output process of the production line forms the arrival process to the next subsystem. This paper develops a technique to analytically describe the output process of a serial production line of N machines with exponential processing time distributions and finite buffer capacities. Extensive exact results are used to examine the effects of line length, buffer capacity, and buffer placement on the interdeparture distribution, correlation structure, and variability of the output process of the production line. These results are used to determine the extent to which buffer allocation can be used to control the variability of the output process (and thereby the amount of work-in-process required to downstream subsystems). In addition, insights are provided to help explain why small buffers in production lines are normally adequate.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin B. Hendricks, 1992. "The Output Processes of Serial Production Lines of Exponential Machines with Finite Buffers," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 40(6), pages 1139-1147, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:oropre:v:40:y:1992:i:6:p:1139-1147
    DOI: 10.1287/opre.40.6.1139
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    Cited by:

    1. Hautphenne, Sophie & Kerner, Yoav & Nazarathy, Yoni & Taylor, Peter, 2015. "The intercept term of the asymptotic variance curve for some queueing output processes," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 242(2), pages 455-464.
    2. Hadjinicola, George C. & Soteriou, Andreas C., 2003. "Reducing the cost of defects in multistage production systems: A budget allocation perspective," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(3), pages 621-634, March.
    3. Chen, Chin-Tai & Yuan, John, 2004. "Transient throughput analysis for a series type system of machines in terms of alternating renewal processes," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(1), pages 178-197, May.
    4. G C Hadjinicola, 2010. "Manufacturing costs in serial production systems with rework," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 61(2), pages 342-351, February.
    5. Tan, Baris, 1997. "Variance of the throughput of an N-station production line with no intermediate buffers and time dependent failures," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 560-576, September.
    6. Papadopoulos, H. T., 1998. "An approximate method for calculating the mean sojourn time of K-station production lines with no intermediate buffers," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 297-305, May.
    7. Farhood Rismanchian & Young Hoon Lee, 2018. "Moment-based approximations for first- and second-order transient performance measures of an unreliable workstation," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 75-95, April.
    8. Lutz, Christian M. & Roscoe Davis, K. & Sun, Minghe, 1998. "Determining buffer location and size in production lines using tabu search," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 106(2-3), pages 301-316, April.

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