Self-buffering, self-balancing, self-flushing production lines
Article Abstract:
A study was conducted to examine a system of flexible work assignments in a situation where workers outnumber machines. When organized employing this system,a U-shaped production line achieves balance by continually and automatically changing workloads as the state of the system shifts. The system is buffering itself against such variation as randomness in processing time as evidenced by the continuous shifts in work assignments, facilitating an operation with very low levels of work-in-process inventory. An exploratory approach that employs Markovian as well as simulation models is used to demonstrate under different circumstances the counter-intuitive characteristics possessed by the system. It is shown that a flexible assignment system can outperform fixed assignments in different circumstances. The near absence of balance delay even when the tasks cannot be equally divided among the workers should be noted.
Publication Name: Management Science
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0025-1909
Year: 1996
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Optimal production and inventory policy for multiple products under resource constraints
Article Abstract:
The optimal production and inventory policy for periodic-review, multiproduct, infinite-horizon production-inventory systems under resource constraints was examined. The optimal production-inventory policy was assumed to be a modified base-stock policy, which was characterized for the case of homogeneous products. Three heuristic policies were proposed to address the difficulty in computing the optimal base-stock levels for the heterogeneous-products case. Numerical results showed that the first heuristic policy, which was developed by generalizing the optimal policy for the case of homogeneous products, outperforms the other two heuristic policies and yields near-optimal solutions. It was also found that an increase in product demand leads to a corresponding increase in average errors for each of the three heuristic policies.
Publication Name: Management Science
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0025-1909
Year: 1998
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Level schedules for mixed-model, just-in-time processes
Article Abstract:
Just-in-Time (JIT) production models define systems whereby an optimum quantity of the required products are produced within the time allocated for it. JIT systems aim to meet customer demands for different products without overstocking or running into shortages. Hence, a JIT-based mixed model can be controlled by establishing a fixed procedure for the production sequence of the final assembly process. An optimal solution for a new, nonconvex objective function is generated using a graph-theoretic approach. The model is capable of defining a time schedule where the difference between actual production and pre-established standard production quantities will never exceed one unit.
Publication Name: Management Science
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0025-1909
Year: 1993
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