Continuous Model of an Unreliable Two-Stage Material Flow System with a Finite Interstage Buffer

摘要

A two-stage material flow production system model is presented and analyzed. The material to be processed is continuous; the processing stages are unreliable; and a finite buffer stores material between the stages. The model is intended to facilitate study of the finite buffer and random behavior of the stages. It is justified as a representation of a production process in several ways. The relationship between this model and a model of discrete material flow is established. Performance measures, including production rate, average in-process inventory, and probabilities of starvation and blockage are calculated. Relationships among these measures are demonstrated and numerical experiments discussed. This kind of model can be used in several ways: to represent manufacturing systems such as transfer lines in which operations (e.g., metal cutting or assembly) occur at the stages; to represent the flow of information within a computer system or network; and to describe a water resource system or network in which the buffer is a reservoir and the stages are dams.