Modeling a class of flexible manufacturing systems with reversible routing. (English) Zbl 0633.90025

Yao, David D.; Buzacott, J. A.

Oper. Res. 35, 87-93 (1987).

We model a flexible manufacturing system (FMS) as a closed queueing network with a set of stations, each with a local buffer of limited capacity. Based on the theory of reversibility as well as some known approaches in the studies of queueing networks with finite buffers, we derive product-form solutions to a class of such FMS networks that have reversible parts routing (a system with a centralized material handling station being one example). This class also includes a certain type of dynamic routing scheme. For systems with zero-buffer stations, we show that the solutions have product form even for nonexponential processing times.

MSC:

90B30	Production models
90B22	Queues and service in operations research
90B10	Deterministic network models in operations research
60K25	Queueing theory (aspects of probability theory)

Keywords:

flexible manufacturing system; closed queueing network; dynamic routing scheme