Performance modelling of an integrated assembly line system with inspection stations and finite capacity local storages; an approximation algorithm

Abstract

To control the bottleneck in a flexible assembly line system consisting of a set of tandem flexible workstations, a set of automated inspection stations, a loading station, and an unloading station, linked by a material handling system, a perturbation (e.g., parametric) approach is presented. The performances of each workstation and each transporter station have been modelled by compatible finite capacity G/M/I queueing systems with generally distributed inter-arrival time, a single Markovian processer, and the first-come-first-served queueing discipline. Finally, an example is presented and the relative accuracy of the proposed approximation algorithm is investigated by a simulation study