Manufacturing control of a serial system with binomial yields, multiple production runs, and non-rigid demand: a decomposition approach

In this paper, the problem of ordering a series of production runs to meet a single make-to-order demand, where the various stages in the production process have binomial yields, is addressed. The use of additional procurement of part-®nished material or reworking defective material previously made to supplement yield at any stage is considered. The costs of this and manufacture, disposal of surplus or shortage are assumed to be proportional to the numbers involved. Set-up costs may or may not be incurred. The treatment follows from, and builds on, a previous single-run analytical result by developing an approximation in which the problem is decomposed into a series of single runs.