Analysis of the Effect of Buffer Storage Capacity in Transfer Line Systems

The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the effect of buffer storage capacity in two-stage transfer lines by presenting results of a theoretical study of the problem. A Markov model of the problem is proposed to analyze the effect of in-process inventory banks on the production rate and the mean number of units in the storage area. Based on the model developed, the effect of internal storage is evaluated, and the question of how much buffer storage capacity should be provided is discussed.