We consider scheduling a shared server in a two class make to stock closed queueing net work We include server switching costs and lost sales costs equivalently server starvation penalties for lost jobs If the switching costs are zero the optimal policy has a monotonic threshold type of switching curve provided that the service times are identical For completely symmetric systems without set up...

This paper investigates the short-term robustness of production planning and control systems. This robustness is defined here as the system’s ability to maintain short-term service probabilities (i.e., the probability that the fill rate remains within a prespecified range), in a variety of environments (scenarios). For this investigation, the paper introduces a heuristic, stagewise methodology ...

(No page numberings) Abstract— A new algorithm is developed for setting WIP level in production lines. It is a pull policy that determines when to authorize a job to be processed. Dynamic information in the system such as machine failures and repairs, and demand variations are taken into consideration to provide an efficient method to dynamically determine the WIP level. Two types of production...

Modern lean production systems most often use a pull-based production control, usually implemented as kanban or CONWIP. The material flow in pull systems is managed using both FIFO lanes and supermarkets as inventories, which are well described in academic literature. However, there is so far little guidance as for when to use a supermarket and when to use a FIFO lane. This paper aims to provid...

Whereas Operations Research concentrates on optimization, practitioners find the robustness of a proposed solution more important. Therefore this paper presents a practical methodology that is a stagewise combination of four proven techniques: (1) simulation, (2) optimization, (3) risk or uncertainty analysis, and (4) bootstrapping. This methodology is illustrated through a production-control s...