Component ordering policies for selective assembly

Abstract

Selective assembly is an approach in which high-precision assemblies can be produced from relatively low-precision components or subassemblies. This research investigates component ordering policies for fixed-bin selective-assembly processes that consider the stochastic nature of the binning process as well as stochastic demand. The distributional aspects of the assembly process are identified, and an approximation of the number of assemblies completed is provided utilising extreme-value theory. The order quantity can then be determined to meet demand with a given service level; an implicit-enumeration procedure is presented to illustrate this process. Computational results illustrate that this is an effective approach for controlling component inventories.