Comparison of three flow line layouts with unreliable machines and profit maximization

Guan Wang (), Yang Woo Shin () and Dug Hee Moon ()
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Guan Wang: Hebei University of Science and Technology
Yang Woo Shin: Changwon National University
Dug Hee Moon: Changwon National University

Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, 2016, vol. 28, issue 4, No 7, 669-693

Abstract: Abstract Manufacturing system design is a complex challenge when a new factory is being built. Although some factories produce the same product, the layouts of the factories may be different. Manufacturing systems for automotive engines can be modelled with several types of queueing networks with finite buffers and unreliable machines. In this paper, three types of layout structures which are commonly used in automotive engine shops are compared with respect to maximizing profit that is determined by throughput and the investment cost of buffers. We assume that the service times are constant but inhomogeneous, and the time to failure and the time to repair are exponentially distributed. To solve this problem we used approximation methods which are based on aggregation and overlapping decomposition for computing performance measures, and a gradient search method for finding an optimal buffer allocation.

Keywords: Manufacturing system design; Flow line; Buffer allocation; Queueing network; Profit maximization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1007/s10696-015-9233-3

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