Stochastic Models of Manufacturing Systems


Book Description

Outlining the major issues that have to be addressed in the design and operation of each type of system, this new text explores the stochastic models of a wide range of manufacturing systems. It covers flow lines, job shops, transfer lines, flexible manufacturing systems, flexible assembly systems, cellular systems, and more. For professionals working in the area of manufacturing system modelling.




Stochastic Modeling and Optimization of Manufacturing Systems and Supply Chains


Book Description

This volume originates from two workshops, both focusing on themes that are reflected in the title of the volume. The first workshop took place at Eindhoven University of Technology, April 24-26, 2001, on the occasion of the University granting a doctorate honoris causa to Profes sor John A. Buzacott. The second workshop was held on June 15, 2002 at Cornell University (preceding the annual INFORMSjMSOM Confer ence), honoring John's retirement and his lifetime contributions. Each of the two workshops consisted of about a dozen technical presentations. The objective of the volume, however, is not to simply publish the proceedings of the two workshops. Rather, our objective is to put to gether a select set of articles, each organized into a well-written chapter, focusing on a timely topic. Collected into a single volume, these chapters aim to serve as a useful reference for researchers and practitioners alike, and also as reading materials for graduate courses or seminars.




Stochastic Modeling of Manufacturing Systems


Book Description

Manufacturing systems rarely perform exactly as expected and predicted. Unexpected events, such as order changes, equipment failures and product defects, affect the performance of the system and complicate decision-making. This volume is devoted to the development of analytical methods aiming at responding to variability in a way that limits its corrupting effects on system performance. The book includes fifteen novel chapters that mostly focus on the development and analysis of performance evaluation models of manufacturing systems using decomposition-based methods, Markovian and queuing analysis, simulation, and inventory control approaches. They are organized into four distinct sections to reflect their shared viewpoints: factory design, unreliable production lines, queuing network models, production planning and assembly.




Hierarchical Decision Making in Stochastic Manufacturing Systems


Book Description

One of the most important methods in dealing with the optimization of large, complex systems is that of hierarchical decomposition. The idea is to reduce the overall complex problem into manageable approximate problems or subproblems, to solve these problems, and to construct a solution of the original problem from the solutions of these simpler prob lems. Development of such approaches for large complex systems has been identified as a particularly fruitful area by the Committee on the Next Decade in Operations Research (1988) [42] as well as by the Panel on Future Directions in Control Theory (1988) [65]. Most manufacturing firms are complex systems characterized by sev eral decision subsystems, such as finance, personnel, marketing, and op erations. They may have several plants and warehouses and a wide variety of machines and equipment devoted to producing a large number of different products. Moreover, they are subject to deterministic as well as stochastic discrete events, such as purchasing new equipment, hiring and layoff of personnel, and machine setups, failures, and repairs.




Stochastic Modeling and Analysis of Manufacturing Systems


Book Description

Manufacturing systems have become increasingly complex over recent years. This volume presents a collection of chapters which reflect the recent developments of probabilistic models and methodologies that have either been motivated by manufacturing systems research or been demonstrated to have significant potential in such research. The editor has invited a number of leading experts to present detailed expositions of specific topics. These include: Jackson networks, fluid models, diffusion and strong approximations, the GSMP framework, stochastic convexity and majorization, perturbation analysis, scheduling via Brownian models, and re-entrant lines and dynamic scheduling. Each chapter has been written with graduate students in mind, and several have been used in graduate courses that teach the modeling and analysis of manufacturing systems.




Manufacturing Systems Modeling and Analysis


Book Description

This text presents the practical application of queueing theory results for the design and analysis of manufacturing and production systems. This textbook makes accessible to undergraduates and beginning graduates many of the seemingly esoteric results of queueing theory. In an effort to apply queueing theory to practical problems, there has been considerable research over the previous few decades in developing reasonable approximations of queueing results. This text takes full advantage of these results and indicates how to apply queueing approximations for the analysis of manufacturing systems. Support is provided through the web site http://msma.tamu.edu. Students will have access to the answers of odd numbered problems and instructors will be provided with a full solutions manual, Excel files when needed for homework, and computer programs using Mathematica that can be used to solve homework and develop additional problems or term projects. In this second edition a separate appendix dealing with some of the basic event-driven simulation concepts has been added.




Handbook of Stochastic Models and Analysis of Manufacturing System Operations


Book Description

This handbook surveys important stochastic problems and models in manufacturing system operations and their stochastic analysis. Using analytical models to design and control manufacturing systems and their operations entail critical stochastic performance analysis as well as integrated optimization models of these systems. Topics deal with the areas of facilities planning, transportation, and material handling systems, logistics and supply chain management, and integrated productivity and quality models covering: • Stochastic modeling and analysis of manufacturing systems • Design, analysis, and optimization of manufacturing systems • Facilities planning, transportation, and material handling systems analysis • Production planning, scheduling systems, management, and control • Analytical approaches to logistics and supply chain management • Integrated productivity and quality models, and their analysis • Literature surveys of issues relevant in manufacturing systems • Case studies of manufacturing system operations and analysis Today’s manufacturing system operations are becoming increasingly complex. Advanced knowledge of best practices for treating these problems is not always well known. The purpose of the book is to create a foundation for the development of stochastic models and their analysis in manufacturing system operations. Given the handbook nature of the volume, introducing basic principles, concepts, and algorithms for treating these problems and their solutions is the main intent of this handbook. Readers unfamiliar with these research areas will be able to find a research foundation for studying these problems and systems.




Stochastic Discrete Event Systems


Book Description

Stochastic discrete-event systems (SDES) capture the randomness in choices due to activity delays and the probabilities of decisions. This book delivers a comprehensive overview on modeling with a quantitative evaluation of SDES. It presents an abstract model class for SDES as a pivotal unifying result and details important model classes. The book also includes nontrivial examples to explain real-world applications of SDES.




Stochastic Models in Reliability Engineering


Book Description

This book is a collective work by many leading scientists, analysts, mathematicians, and engineers who have been working at the front end of reliability science and engineering. The book covers conventional and contemporary topics in reliability science, all of which have seen extended research activities in recent years. The methods presented in this book are real-world examples that demonstrate improvements in essential reliability and availability for industrial equipment such as medical magnetic resonance imaging, power systems, traction drives for a search and rescue helicopter, and air conditioning systems. The book presents real case studies of redundant multi-state air conditioning systems for chemical laboratories and covers assessments of reliability and fault tolerance and availability calculations. Conventional and contemporary topics in reliability engineering are discussed, including degradation, networks, and dynamic reliability, resilience, and multi-state systems, all of which are relatively new topics to the field. The book is aimed at engineers and scientists, as well as postgraduate students involved in reliability design, analysis, and experiments and applied probability and statistics.




Performance Analysis of Manufacturing Systems


Book Description

Manufacturing industries are devoted to producing high-quality products in the most economical and timely manner. Quality, economics, and time not only indicate the customer-satisfaction level, but also measure the manufacturing per formance of a company. Today's manufacturing environments are becoming more and more complex, flexible, and information-intensive. Companies invest into the information technologies such as computers, communication networks, sensors, actuators, and other equipment that give them an abundance of information about their materials and resources. In the face of global competition, a manufacturing company's survival is becoming more dependent on how best this influx of in formation is utilized. Consequently, there evolves a great need for sophisticated tools of performance analysis that use this information to help decision makers in choosing the right course of action. These tools will have the capability of data analysis, modeling, computer simulation, and optimization for use in designing products and processes. International competition also has had its impact on manufacturing education and the government's support of it in the US. We see more courses offered in this area in industrial engineering and manufacturing systems engineering departments, operations research programs, and business schools. In fact, we see an increasing number of manufacturing systems engineering departments and manufacturing research centers in universities not only in the US but also in Europe, Japan, and many developing countries.