Buffer allocation in the production lines

Abstract

The placement of buffers in a production line is a classic and popular problem in industrial engineering or operations research field that is still relevant today. Decisions regarding the amount of buffer capacity and placement of buffers in a production line occur repeatedly in system design. In this thesis, I examine a buffer allocation method for serial production lines. The method uses data generated from a production line that are simulated by ARENA software. I illustrate the level of accuracy of the method by comparing the final results with those produced by previous researches that I will introduce later in this thesis and some design rules. Experiments are designed on a variety of test cases. This buffer allocation optimisation method can permit designers to rapidly and effectively evaluate design alternatives and thus improve production system performance. Keywords: Buffer allocation, simulation, ARENA, improve production system performance