4.7 Article

Workload Control order release in general and pure flow shops with limited buffer size induced blocking: an assessment by simulation

Journal

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRODUCTION RESEARCH
Volume 59, Issue 8, Pages 2558-2569

Publisher

TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/00207543.2020.1735667

Keywords

Workload control; order release; job shop; flow shop; blocking

Funding

  1. National Natural Science Foundation of China [71872072]
  2. Guangdong Province Universities and Colleges Pearl River Scholar Funded Scheme

Ask authors/readers for more resources

Most manufacturing shops have limited physical space in front of each workstation, leading to potential job blocking which can impact production efficiency. However, Workload Control and order release can mitigate the impact, especially crucial in shops with blocking or space constraints. In a pure flow shop, the impact of blocking is less pronounced due to directed routing.
Most manufacturing shops in practice have limited physical space in front of each workstation, due, for example, to physical, economical or operational constraints. As a result, a job may cause blocking because it has to remain at a given station after an operation has been completed until space in front of the next station in its routing becomes available. Despite this practical reality, the Workload Control literature typically assumes infinite buffer limits and therefore neglects the impact of blocking. Using simulation, we highlight the direct, detrimental impact of blocking in both the pure and general flow shop. Workload Control order release dampens the effect of blocking and improves overall performance. This makes Workload Control order release even more important in the context of shops with blocking or physical space constraints. Further analysis reveals that the impact of blocking is less pronounced in the pure flow shop given its directed routing. Finally, most of the blocking that occurs is because jobs cannot enter the shop, i.e. there is no space in front of the gateway station. This re-emphasises the close relationship between blocking and release methods that limit the workload, and it highlights the importance of workload balancing.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.7
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available