A control policy for reentrant manufacturing systems

Abstract

The DYNWIP control policy is extended for the control of reentrant manufacturing systems. Based on the principles of inventory management, the DYNWIP policy utilizes real-time system information to match production with demand whilst effectively controlling inventory levels. The DYNWIP policy is generally formulated to be applied at all machines of a production line, but this increases the complexity and cost of implementation. Simulation studies show that the application of the policy at a few key machines of a reentrant system is sufficient to generate satisfactory performance. The studies also demonstrate that this new policy performs better than the established CONWIP [11] and WIPLOAD [2] control policies by providing higher service levels with lower work in process (WIP). ©2009 IEEE.