A study on designing mixed buffer production systems for manufacturing the components of prefabricated houses via precast concrete panels

Abstract

The object of this paper is to determine the moat economical buffer capacity in the production systems for the manufacture of prefabricated houses using precast concrete panels, via an analysis of the various kinds of buffer systems inherent in those systems Two types of the component (precast concrete panels) are manufactured; a standard metal form for standard components, and a special metal form for the special components required by each individual customer. While the standard forma can be produced beforehand and used for many different projects, the special forms are customized—made-to-order—for each particular project and cannot be produced until the order for that project has been received. Generally, then, manufacturing policy is determined by the average value of standard ratios, that is, the proportion of standard components out of the total number of components of each order.

In this system, the number of standard forms can be ascertained from total demand and the standard ratio However, the number of standard forms determined by this method might precipitate supply into a shortage on demand and change the lead time. This is due to three types of fluctuations; arrival intervals, standard ratios and special form processing times.

In this paper, mixed buffer production systems are proposed in order to decrease the shortage of components and the shipping lead time, both of which could be affected by the three types of fluctuation mentioned above. With this in mind, it is hoped that the several numerical examples show that mixed buffer production systems are more effective than a single buffer production system.