The Effect of Interstage Buffer Storage on the Output of Two Unreliable Production Units in Series, with Different Production Rates

Abstract

In this article the effect of interstage buffer storage on the output of a two-stage production line is considered for the case where the two production units have different production rates, different breakdown rates and different repair rates. An analytical treatment is given using regeneration points. For the case where the production rates are equal the problem reduces to one simple differential equation, for the case where the production rates are different the problem can be represented by a system of three simple differential equations. Some numerical examples are given.