Lot sizing in a practical manufacturing system

Abstract

The determination of lot sizes is important to the effective operation of a manufacturing system. Previous approaches for determining lot sizes usually have some major problems associated with their use in a practical manufacturing system. This paper presents a methodology for setting lot sizes in a practical manufacturing system that is both simple and powerful in operation. This methodology is based on dividing the products into product families with each family having a lot size factor associated with it. The lot size factors can be tested by simulating the manufacturing system and a particular set of lot size factors chosen on the basis of good overall system performance. The approach has been tested on data from a practical manufacturing system and the results indicate that the methodology has relatively low computing requirements and can produce a significantly lower cost operation. The methodology should be a practical proposition for a wide variety of batch manufacturing systems.