Design and Analysis of a Closed-Loop Single-Workstation PPC System

Methods at control engineering can be integrated with methods of production engineering to improve robustness and performance of production systems, while making dynamic analysis tractable and improving understanding of complex behavior. In this paper a discrete, dynamic model of a single workstation is developed, including characteristic equations of transfer functions that are useful in choosing control parameter values according to desired dynamic performance and response. Nonlineartties such as dependence of capacity on WIP and delay in adjusting capacity due to work rules are modeled and incorporated into the dynamic analysis. Examples are presented of control parameter selection and resulting performance.