Title: Parallel kanban-CONWIP for production system with rework entrance

Authors: Mei Yong Chong; Shaliza Azreen Mustafa; Joshua Prakash; Jeng Feng Chin

Addresses: School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia ' School of Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Pauh Putra Campus, 02600, Arau, Perlis, Malaysia ' School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia ' School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia

Abstract: Parallel kanban-constant work in process (WIP) (CONWIP) (PKC) integrates kanban and CONWIP systems to regulate separately production of high- and low-demand items. This paper studies the performance of PKC variants under a production environment that requires the entrance of rework parts. A case study was performed at an electronics assembly plant with a three-stage asynchronous processing. Discrete-event simulations were conducted using an analysis enhanced by multi-factor ANOVA and response surface methodology. The studied performance measures were the total output, average WIP, flow times, and average bottleneck utilisation. A harmonising effect of the high- and low-demand items was observed when item composition was maintained at a certain ratio. The merge rework policy was consistently superior to the original rework policy. The categorisation in loading rule effectively reduced variations in PKC performance. [Received 22 June 2012; Revised 10 October 2012; Accepted 4 March 2013]

Keywords: kanban; constant work in process; CONWIP; rework policy; high-mix production; multi-stage production; electronics assembly; asynchronous processing; discrete-event simulation; ANOVA; response surface methodology; RSM; total output; average WIP; flow times; average bottleneck utilisation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMR.2013.057747

International Journal of Manufacturing Research, 2013 Vol.8 No.4, pp.357 - 377

Published online: 29 Jan 2014 *

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