Approximate analysis of open networks of queues with blocking: Tandem configurations
IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering
Asymptotic behavior of the expansion method for open finite queueing networks
Computers and Operations Research
An approximation method for tandem queues with blocking
Operations Research
The role of work-in-process inventory in serial production lines
Operations Research
Buffer space allocation in automated assembly lines
Operations Research
A comment on “buffer space allocation in automated assembly lines”
Operations Research
Buffer allocation for an integer nonlinear network design problem
Computers and Operations Research
Optimal buffer allocation in finite closed networks with multiple servers
Computers and Operations Research
EVALUATING PERFORMANCE OF FLOW LINE SYSTEMS WITH BLOCKING UNDER FUZZY ENVIRONMENTS
Cybernetics and Systems
Expert Systems with Applications: An International Journal
A comparative study of genetic algorithm components in simulation-based optimisation
Proceedings of the 40th Conference on Winter Simulation
Buffer size design linked to reliability performance: A simulative study
Computers and Industrial Engineering
Expert Systems with Applications: An International Journal
Sequential metamodelling with genetic programming and particle swarms
Winter Simulation Conference
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This study investigates the buffer allocation strategy of a flow-shop-type production system that possesses a given total amount of buffers and finite buffer capacity for each workstation as well as general interarrival and service times in order to optimize such system performances as minimizing work-in-process, cycle time and blocking probability, maximizing throughput, or their combinations. In theory, the buffer allocation problem is in itself a difficult NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem, it is made even more difficult by the fact that the objective function is not obtainable in closed form for interrelating the integer decision variables (i.e., buffer sizes) and the performance measures of the system. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to present an effective design methodology for buffer allocation in the production system. Our design methodology uses a dynamic programming process along with the embedded approximate analytic procedure for computing system performance measures under a certain allocation strategy. Numerical experiments show that our design methodology can quickly and quite precisely seek out the optimal or sub-optimal allocation strategy for most production system patterns.