Equilibrium probabilities for a production-inventory system maintained by a control-limit policy

Abstract

In this paper we consider a manufacturing system in which an input generator supplies at a constant rate a buffer with a raw material and a production unit pulls the raw material from the buffer at a stochastic rate. We consider specific control-limit policies for the maintenance of the production unit. We show that the equilibrium probabilities of the system can be computed exactly when the production unit after a maintenance remains idle until the buffer is filled up.

Keywords:

• Control-limit policies
• Equilibrium probabilities
• Maintenance

Mathematics Subject Classification:

• 60J10

Acknowledgment

I would like to thank an anonymous referee whose useful comments led to an improvement of the presentation of the paper.