Minimising instability on manufacturing systems after random disruption

Abstract

One of the major issues in manufacturing systems is to determine how to deal effectively with unexpected disruption during production operation, (e.g. material unavailability, machine breakdown, employee absenteeism, power failure and additional resources, etc.). This paper presents a comprehensive literature review which shows that existing methods and tools offer very few concepts that are sufficient to handle a variety of random disruptions in manufacturing industries. A scheduling model was developed, and random sampling and simulation runs were done to minimise instability of the production system after random disruption. The results indicate that the degree of failure in the production line fluctuates and additional resources are required in order to meet up with planned demand.

Keywords:

• random disruptions
• employee absenteeism
• scheduling
• breakdown

JEL classification:

• E24
• J52
• L60
• N6

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the Plant Manager of Pegasus, Mr. Tshepo Maongate and Mrs. Martha E. Ikome for all their support. Without them, this work could not have been completed.