Abstract
Analysis of asynchronous manufacturing flow lines with deterministic processing times, unreliable machines, and finite buffers is almost always achieved through the use of approximate models, such as the synchronous model or the continuous flow model. Here we are concerned with the continuous flow model. The purpose of this paper is (1) to provide a detailed discussion of the continuous flow model as an approximation of the asynchronous model and (2) to establish under what conditions this model provides a good approximation of the original asynchronous model. The second issue is addressed by means of an experimental study. We consider a set of 70 manufacturing lines. For each line, we use simulation to compare the production rate of the continuous flow model with that of the asynchronous model. For some lines, we also compare other performance measures. By analyzing simulation results, we give general conclusions about conditions where the continuous flow model is a good approximation of the asynchronous model.
Published Version
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