Performance evaluation of a push--pull merge system with multiple suppliers, an intermediate buffer and a distribution centre with parallel machines/channels

A.C. Diamantidis, S.I. Koukoumialos and M.I. Vidalis

International Journal of Production Research, 2016, vol. 54, issue 9, 2628-2652

Abstract: This paper examines a push--pull merge system with external demand. Multiple reliable non-identical suppliers feed a buffer that is located immediately upstream a distribution centre (DC) with parallel identical reliable machines. The DC performs another operation on the items stored in the preceding buffer and the finished products are stored in another buffer (the finished products buffer) immediately downstream the DC. Customers arrive to the system according to a Poisson process with given intensity λ and remove a finished product from the buffer of finished products. The size of a customer demand is equal to one. Both suppliers and the identical machines at DC have exponential service rates. The considered system is modelled as a continuous-time Markov process with discrete states. An algorithm that generates the transition matrix for any value of the parameters of the system is developed and all possible transition equations are derived and solved analytically. Once the transition matrix is known the performance measures of the model under consideration can be easily evaluated.

Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00207543.2015.1113325 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:tprsxx:v:54:y:2016:i:9:p:2628-2652

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/TPRS20

DOI: 10.1080/00207543.2015.1113325

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Production Research is currently edited by Professor A. Dolgui

More articles in International Journal of Production Research from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().