Optimal hybrid push/pull control strategies for a parallel multistage system: Part II |
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| Authors: | THOM J. HODGSON DINGWEI WANG |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Industrial Engineering , North Carolina State University , Raleigh, NC, 27695-7906, USA;2. Department of Automatic Control , Northeast University of Technology , Shenyang, Peoples Republic of China |
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| Abstract: | The strategies developed in part I of this paper are extended to a more general case in part II. Based on the optimal policy structure of a Markov Decision Process model and by control and information structure analysis, we propose that the ‘best’ strategy for a general series/parallel multistage (assembly) production/inventory system is to use a push (MRP) strategy at all initial stages of the system and a pull (JIT) strategy at all the other downstream stages. As viewed from the information structure, this recommended strategy is a group of decentralized controllers with a centralized coordinator. |
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