Methods for Choosing Buffer Size in Tandem Production Operations.

摘要

This memorandum is concerned with the problem of selecting a capacity value for the buffer between two asynchronous production operations. The methodology study is motivated by shortcomings in present methods. Objectives for this study are that methods should be at least as efficient as stochastic simulation and that they should provide a means of examining both the utilization of the buffer and the productivity of the manufacturing process. Two methods were developed and implemented in computer programs. Both methods use the theory of Markov processes. The first method (GS.BUF) calculates steady-state probabilities for all states of a simple production system. For certain types of processes the results of this model are exact. The results offer a good approximation for many processes. This model calculates the system productivity explicitly, providing an opportunity for economic tradeoffs between buffer capacity and other parameters. The second model (BUF.CAP) focuses on the dynamics of the filling and emptying of the buffer, under the assumption of statistical independence between states of the two operations. This model admits the possibility of several machines working in parallel at each operation. (Author)