Performance of real-time distributed arrival time control in assembly cell manufacturing systems

In recent years, assembly cells as a new manufacturing system have clearly shown that it have the ability to generate significant performance improvements over unbuffered, multi-model, linked assembly lines and multi-model assembly lines with a finite buffer of inventory between stations. However, some effective methods for scheduling in real time in this manufacturing system are sparse. In this paper, a kind of distributed arrival time control strategy is introduced, which has been used in a single machine scenario. The algorithm is modified to adapt to assembly cells manufacturing system. In addition, numeric simulation is conducted to test the ability of some dynamic response, such as the changes in due dates. The results illustrate that this approach is an attractive option for real-time control for just-in-time production.