An approach of designing CONWIP loop for assembly system in one-of-a-kind production environment

Abstract

Pursuit of the shortest cycle time does not enhance benefits in one-of-a-kind production (OKP) environment. The quality of services is affected by the delivery on time for OKP enterprise, and a well-designed constant work in process (CONWIP) loop structure can effectively improve the performance of assembly system in OKP. The designed CONWIP loop structures have been tested by simulation under 2 assembly proportion conditions and 14 situations of fluctuation combinations, and analysed relationship between cycle time and punishment of tardiness. Simulation test shows that some of CONWIP policies have stronger robustness, which can perform well in several fluctuation situations. The authors propose an idea of dynamic configuration for CONWIP control. Furthermore, the design procedure of CONWIP can provide a reference and guidance for the application of CONWIP. This article extends the knowledge of OKP shop floor control and promotes implementation of CONWIP in pull manufacturing system.

Keywords:

• OKP
• CONWIP
• shop floor control
• assembly system
• due date

Acknowledgements

We thank the editors and anonymous referees for their helpful comments on earlier versions of our article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under [grant number 71571101], [grant number 71171114], [grant number 71472089] and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities under [grant number 30920130111011].