Buffer clustering policy for sequential production lines with deterministic processing times

Schuler, Francesca; Darabi, Houshang

doi:10.5267/j.ijiec.2016.5.001

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 27 publications

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“…Here, optical or electronic means can be used. Schuler and Darabi (2016) describe a case of a manufacturing facility producing mobile devices where parts in neighboring stages of their production are manually stored in shared buffer clusters. When a part is picked up for processing by a machine, its bar code or RFID is scanned to ensure that the preceding operations have been completed.…”

Section: Description Of a Production Line Operated Under An Eb Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance evaluation of a production line operated under an echelon buffer policy

Liberopoulos

2018

IISE Transactions

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We consider a production line consisting of several machines in series separated by intermediate finitecapacity buffers. The line operates under an "echelon buffer" (EB) policy according to which each machine can store the parts that it produces in any of its downstream buffers if the next machine is occupied. If the capacities of all but the last buffer are zero, the EB policy is equivalent to CONWIP. To evaluate the performance of the line under the EB policy, we model it as a queueing network, and we develop a method that decomposes this network into as many nested segments as there are buffers and approximates each segment with a two-machine subsystem that can be analyzed in isolation. For the case where the machines have geometrically distributed processing times, we model each subsystem as a two-dimensional Markov chain that can be solved numerically. The parameters of the subsystems are determined by relationships among the flows of parts through the echelon buffers in the original system. An iterative algorithm is developed to solve these relationships. We use this method to evaluate the performance of several instances of 5-and 10-machine lines including cases where the EB policy is equivalent to CONWIP. Our numerical results show that this method is highly accurate and computationally efficient. We also compare the performance of the EB policy against the performance of the traditional "installation buffer" policy according to which each machine can store the parts that it produces only in its immediate downstream buffer if the next machine is occupied.

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Section: Description Of a Production Line Operated Under An Eb Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance evaluation of a production line operated under an echelon buffer policy

Liberopoulos

2018

IISE Transactions

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On the Dynamics in Decoupling Buffers in Mass Manufacturing Lines: A Stochastic Approach

et al. 2022

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This paper analyzes the flow of the contents of interleaved buffers with continuously operating machines in a mass production line. Under this framework, the products to be manufactured advance from station to station to receive a physical–chemical transformation that adds value as they progress in the process. The existence of decoupling buffers between operations (between two consecutive workstations) is a common practice in order to alleviate the pressure that is ahead due to the lack of synchronization between consecutive operations, which causes leisure and/or bottlenecks in the system. In this proposal, we analyze the dynamics of a mass manufacturing line with intermediate decoupling buffers. To do that, we use a regenerative stochastic process approach to build a model where the products stored in each buffer are taken all at once by the consecutive machine. In a second approach, we use a homogeneous birth–death process with constant input–output and assume that the products are taken one by one by the consecutive machine. Finally, we use a non-homogeneous birth–death process to analyze the dynamics of a system whose inputs and outputs depend on time. These proposals are accompanied by numerical examples that illustrate its practical utility.

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Buffer clustering policy for sequential production lines with deterministic processing times

Schuler¹,

Darabi²

2016

10.5267/j.ijiec

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A sequential production line is defined as a set of sequential operations within a factory or distribution center whereby entities undergo one or more processes to produce a final product. Sequential production lines may gain efficiencies such as increased throughput or reduced work in progress by utilizing specific configurations while maintaining the chronological order of operations. One problem identified by the authors via a case study is that, some of the configurations, such as work cell or U-shaped production lines that have groups of buffers, often increase the space utilization. Therefore, many facilities do not take advantage of the configuration efficiencies that a work cell or U-shaped production line provide. To solve this problem, the authors introduce the concept of a buffer cluster. The production line implemented with one or more buffer clusters maintains the throughput of the line, identical to that with dedicated buffers, but with the clusters reduces the buffer storage space. The paper derives a time based parametric model that determines the sizing of the buffer cluster, provides a reduced time space for which to search for the buffer cluster sizing, and determines an optimal buffer clustering policy that can be applied to any N-server, N+1-buffer sequential line configuration with deterministic processing time. This solution reduces the buffer storage space utilized while ensuring no overflows or underflows occur in the buffer. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates how the buffer clustering policy serves as an input into a facility layout tool that provides the optimal production line layout.

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Buffer clustering policy for sequential production lines with deterministic processing times

Cited by 3 publications

References 27 publications

Performance evaluation of a production line operated under an echelon buffer policy

Performance evaluation of a production line operated under an echelon buffer policy

On the Dynamics in Decoupling Buffers in Mass Manufacturing Lines: A Stochastic Approach

Buffer clustering policy for sequential production lines with deterministic processing times

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