Improving energy efficiency in Bernoulli serial lines: an integrated model

Abstract

In this paper, we present an integrated model of both productivity and energy consumptions in serial production lines with two machines. Bernoulli reliability is assumed for both machines and the capacity of the buffer is finite. The energy consumption of each machine includes the energy required to set up the machine until it is ready for processing, and the additional energy needed to carry out the processing operation to make the product. The former is typically fixed for a specific manufacturing process, while the latter is proportional to the processing rate. The objective of the model is to minimise energy consumption, while maintaining the desired production rate. Specifically, analytical investigation has been carried out to discover the conditions that energy consumption can be minimised with and without the constraints of workforce or machine processing capability. Optimal allocations of them under different scenarios have been derived. Insights for reducing energy consumption while still ensuring desired productivity have been obtained.

Keywords:

• energy consumption
• production rate
• Bernoulli reliability
• two-machine line
• workforce constraint

Funding

This work is supported in part by NSF [grant number CMMI-1063656]; National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [grant number 71501109].

Notes

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.