A WIP control policy for tandem lines

Abstract

The control of manufacturing systems has many similarities with the management of inventories in warehouses. Based on the detailed analysis of these similarities, a new control policy is proposed in this paper. Simulation studies demonstrate that this new policy performs better than several established control policies by providing a higher service level with a lower work in process (WIP). This policy is in its infant stage of development and only single part type tandem lines (transfer lines) are studied in this paper. Studies of re-entrant production systems or multiple part type systems are the focus of future research.