Analyses of serial production line systems for interdeparture time variability and WIP inventory systems

This paper investigates the well-known and extensively studied unpaced production line problem for the interdeparture time variability and work-in-process (WIP) inventory. The primary objective is to examine the relationships between the interdeparture time variability and some system design factors such as the number of stations, buffer capacity, and location of a bottleneck station. The performance of the system is also evaluated for average and variance of WIP inventory. Simulation is used as a modeling and analysis tool with the results being tested by appropriate statistical procedures. The analysis of the results reveals several important findings on the interdeparture time variability and WIP inventory. We confirm and strengthen some of the previous findings on throughput. In this paper, we also discuss managerial implications and suggest further research areas.