A novel approach for the design of multi-class reentrant manufacturing systems

  • Yoo, Dong-Joon (Department of Chemical Engineering, POSTECH) ;
  • Jung, Jae-Hak (School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Yeungnam University) ;
  • Lee, In-Beum (Department of Chemical Engineering, POSTECH) ;
  • Lee, Euy-Soo (Department of Chemical Engineering, Dongguk University) ;
  • Yi, Gyeong-beom (Division of Chemical Engineering, Pukyong National University)
  • Published : 2004.08.25

Abstract

The design problem of manufacturing system is addressed, adopting the closed queueing network model with multiple loops and re-entrant flows. The entire design problem is divided into two hierarchical sub-problems of (1) determining the station configuration and (2) optimizing the lot constitution; then they are tackled by neighbor search algorithm (NSA) and greedy mean value analysis (GMVA), respectively. Unlike the conventional MVA concerning multi-class closed queueing networks, the GMVA doesn't stick to a fixed lot proportion; rather it tries to find the optimal balance. The NSA, on the other hand, improves the object function value by altering the station configuration successively with its superior neighbor. The moderate time complexity, presented in big-${o}$ notation, enables us to apply the method even to the large-size practical cases, and the CPU time of an enlarged problem can be approximated by the same equation. The validity of our analytic approach is backed up by simulation studies with a widespread simulation package.

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