Unbalanced production systems with floats: analysis and lean design Online publication date: Thu, 27-Nov-2014
by Semyon M. Meerkov, Liang Zhang
International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management (IJMTM), Vol. 23, No. 1/2, 2011
Abstract: Unbalanced production systems often operate in the regimes, where the departments with lower throughput operate overtime to prevent starvation of those with higher throughput. The work-in-process, built-up during the overtime, is referred to as the 'float.' In this paper, we study such a system consisting of two departments obeying the Bernoulli reliability model. Specifically, we provide a method for performance analysis and offer a technique to calculate the smallest, i.e., lean, float capacity necessary and sufficient to obtain the system throughput equal to that of the best department. Four design approaches are considered, and it is shown that the ones based on transient analysis ensure superior performances.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management (IJMTM):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com