The Effect of Internal Storage on the Production Rate of a Series of Stages Having Exponential Service Times

Abstract

Mathematical models of the average production rates are derived for two and three-stage production lines. The service times at each of the stages are assumed to be exponential random variables. An investigation is made of the effect of the amount of internal storage capacity on the output rate of the line. Additional investigations involve the optimum allocation of storage capacity and the decrease in the production rate caused by adding stages to the line.