Optimal manufacturing flow controllers: zero-inventory policies and control switching sets

Optimal manufacturing flow controllers: zero-inventory policies and control switching sets

A continuous flow control model of a single workstation with multiple failure modes and part types is considered. Although the general model is intractable, properties of the optimal control policy are identified that can be used to help formulate heuristic policies. Control switching sets are described and shown to have a threshold form. For a single machine with two part types, conditions are...

Optimality of Zero-Inventory Policies for Unreliable Manufacturing Systems

Optimal average cost manufacturing flow controllers: convexity and differentiability

We consider the control of a production facility consisting of a single workstation with multiple failure modes and part types using a continuous flow control model. Technical issues concerning the convexity and differentiability of the differential cost function are investigated. It is proven that under an optimal control policy the differential cost is C1 on attractive control switching bound...

Optimal and near-optimal inventory control policies for a make-to-order inventory-production system

This paper examines several inventory replenishment policies for a make-to-order inventory–production system that consists of a production workshop and a warehouse. Demands arrive to the production workshop according to a Poisson process, and are processed in an FCFS manner. The production workshop requires that the warehouse provides, as needed, raw materials for use in the production process....

Monotonicity of Optimal Policies in a Zero Sum Game: a Flow Control Model

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how value iteration can be used in a zero-sum game to obtain structural results on the optimal (equilibrium) value and policy. This is done through the following example. We consider the problem of dynamic flow control of arriving customers into a finite buffer. The service rate may depend on the state of the system, may change in time and is unknown t...