MMS production scheduling subject to strikes in random environments

A multistage manufacturing system (MMS) is the normal paradigm used for the final assembly of a consumable good, for example a car or printed circuit board. A simple MMS consists normally of a linear sequence of workstations at which components or value is added to a product, this is essentially an assembly line. When planning the production scheduling, normally only workstation repair, failure, and defective pieces are considered as stochastic events that can affect the production rates for the various workstations. Additionally, it is assumed that all of the raw materials necessary to assemble the finished product are available, and therefore the supply routing problem of raw materials is not considered. In this treatment of the problem, we consider the effects of strikes and of natural disasters. A strike or natural disaster can affect the MMS itself and/or the way in which raw materials are introduced into the MMS that is the supply routing problem is treated as well. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the model that includes a strike as well as workstation repair and failure