Batch sizes and lead-time performance in flexible manufacturing systems |
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Authors: | Harvey H. Millar and Tao Yang |
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Affiliation: | (1) Finance and Management Science Department, Soint Mary's University, B3H 3C3 Halifax, Nova Scotia;(2) Department of Industrial Engineering, Technical University of Nova Scotia, B3J 2X4 Halifax, Nova Scotia |
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Abstract: | Production lead-time performance in flexible manufacturing systems is influenced by several factors which include: machine groupings, demand rates, machine processing rates, product batching, material handling system capacity, and so on. Hence, control of lead-time performance can be affected through the manipulation of one or more of these variables. In this article, we investigate the potential of batch sizing as a control variable for lead-time performance through the use of a queueing network model. We establish a functional relationship between the two variables, and incorporate the relationship in an optimization model to determine the optimal batch size(s) which minimizes the sum of annual work-in-process inventory and final inventory costs. The nonlinear batch sizing problem which results is solved by discrete optimization via marginal analysis. Results show that batch sizing can be a cheap and effective variable for controlling flexible manufacturing system throughput. |
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Keywords: | flexible manufacturing systems batch sizes lead-times |
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