DT-bottlenecks in serial production lines: theory and application

Author

Chiang, Shu-Yin ; Kuo, Chih-Tsung ; Meerkov, Semyon M.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Comput. Commun. Eng., Ming-Chuan Univ., Taiwan

Volume

16

Issue

5

fYear

2000

fDate

10/1/2000 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

567

Lastpage

580

Abstract

The bottleneck (BN) of a production line is a machine that impedes the system´s performance in the strongest manner. It has been shown in previous work that the so-called downtime bottlenecks (DT-BNs) are of main industrial importance. In this paper, a method for DT-BN identification is developed in the framework of serial production lines with unreliable (Markovian) machines and finite buffers. The identification tool derived is based on the probabilities of machine blockages and starvations. To evaluate these probabilities, a novel aggregation technique is proposed. The results obtained are applied to the design of a production line at an automotive component plant

Keywords

Markov processes; convergence; probability; production control; reliability theory; Markovian machines; aggregation technique; automotive component plant; downtime bottlenecks; finite buffers; identification tool; machine blockages; serial production lines; starvations; unreliable machines; Assembly; Automotive components; Electric breakdown; Impedance; Machinery production industries; Machining; Production systems; Protection; Statistics; Topology;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Robotics and Automation, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1042-296X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/70.880806

Filename

880806