Title: A decision-making using data envelopment aggressive formulation and theory of constraints to enhance the PVC production line performance

Authors: Mohammed Shurrab; Abbas Al-Refaie; Nabeel Mandahawi; Shorouq Shurrab

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan ' Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan ' The Business School, Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, 3199 Lakeshore Blvd. W., Toronto, ON M8V 1K8, Canada ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Abstract: Bottlenecks and system's productivity are interrelated domains such that small changes in the bottlenecks could have a huge effect on the system's productivity. This research expounds a managerial case study combined a data envelopment analysis (DEA) with the theory of constraints (TOC) to a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes' production line. Four scenarios were applied to break the bottleneck constraint. DEA was utilised to recognise the optimal solution and make a proper decision. Upgrading the constraint, which was the last resort of TOC implementation, was the optimal solution. The deliverable of this solution was a significant performance improvement to break the constraint in the production line. Although the optimal solution increased the incurred cost by 20%, it enhanced the number of the PVC pipes that are produced annually by 21%, increased the line throughput from 0.3 pipe/min to 1.15 pipe/min, and increased the system utilisation by 19%.

Keywords: theory of constraints; TOC; simulation and bottleneck analysis; data envelopment analysis; DEA; process-based costing; PBC; decision-making; PVC pipes.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISE.2018.094609

International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2018 Vol.30 No.1, pp.21 - 39

Received: 11 Nov 2015
Accepted: 22 Aug 2016
Published online: 10 Sep 2018 *

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