A computer simulation study of manual flow lines

✍ Scribed by D.S. Hira; P.C. Pandey

• Publisher: Society of Manufacturing Engineers
• Year: 1983
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 598 KB
• Volume: 2
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0278-6125
• DOI: 10.1016/s0278-6125(83)80025-9

✦ Synopsis

A flow line production system having finite intermediate buffers and random processing times has been simulated to determine the system efficiency and the average work inprocess. From the simulation results, simple and reliable empirical equations for determining the efficiency of the line have been developed. Analysis of the buffer utilization results show th'at in a balanced system, work in-process remains high in the first few stages of the line, and low towards the end of the line. It has also been observed that the balanced line (equal buffers) is generally the most productive, and that a small imbalance, due to larger buffers in the center of the line, has little effect on its performance.