Much of the previous research on unpaced production lines with variable processing times has addressed either the issue of the allocation of work to the stations or the allocation of storage space to the buffers between stations. Our focus is instead on the simultaneous optimization of the workload allocation and the buffer allocation. We use a basic cost-based model that includes both revenue per unit of throughput and cost per unit of buffer space. Using both exponential and Erlang processing times, exact numerical results are obtained for the underlying Markov chain for cases where the number of states range up to over 2000 000. We investigate how the bowl phenomenon for workload allocation and the storage bowl phenomenon for buffer allocation interact when performing both allocations simultaneously. We also find counterexamples to a conjecture previously published in the literature that a balanced buffer allocation is optimal when the total number of buffer spaces is an integer multiple of the number of buffers.
Simultaneous optimization of work and buffer space in unpaced production lines with random processing times
Log in via your institution
Log in to Taylor & Francis Online
Restore content access
Restore content access for purchases made as guestPDF download + Online access
- 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
- Article PDF can be downloaded
- Article PDF can be printed
Issue Purchase
- 30 days online access to complete issue
- Article PDFs can be downloaded
- Article PDFs can be printed
Related Research
People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.
Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.
Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.