Heuristics for determining output and work allocations in series flow lines

Abstract

In order to efficiently design production systems we must understand the effect on throughput from different choices of design parameters. One of those parameters is the allocation of total work effort among the various stations in the production line. We have found heuristics which enable us to find approximate values for the optimal allocation and for the output rate. These results, besides extending those systems for which we can perform good allocations, also are consistent with the expected work assignments based on known conjectured theoretical results.