Optimal Acquisition of Automated Flexible Manufacturing Processes

George E. Monahan and Timothy L. Smunt
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George E. Monahan: University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois
Timothy L. Smunt: Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri

Operations Research, 1989, vol. 37, issue 2, 288-300

Abstract: We formulate the problem of converting a labor-intensive batch production process to one that incorporates flexible automation as a finite-state Markov decision process. Interest rates and the level of automated technology influence both operating and acquisition costs and are treated as random variables. The model specifies the optimal level of capacity to convert to flexible automation. The optimization criterion is the minimization of the sum of expected, discounted costs incurred over a finite planning horizon. The optimal acquisition strategy depends upon the time period, the current interest rate, the current level of technology, and a measure of the remaining capacity that is not automated. We investigate the structure of optimal acquisition strategies using mathematical analysis and simulation. Our objective is to illustrate the qualitative characteristics of optimal strategies for acquiring flexible automation. As a step toward the implementation of the model, we examine the qualitative consequences associated with specifying classes of inventory and acquisition cost functions.

Keywords: dynamic programming; Markov; finite-state: Markov decision process; inventory/production: properties of optimal acquisition strategies; optimal acquisition of automated flexible manufacturing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1989
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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