A viable alternative to the ‘method of stages’ solution of series production systems with Erlang service times

Abstract

The mean production rate of a series production system with identical Erlang stations is obtained by solving an integral equation formulated by Muth. In this method, one needs to solvE only k simultaneous equations rathor than the k(k + 1) (k + 3) equations generated by the ‘ method of stages ’ approach. As such, it is much more feasible computationally for realistic systems with large Erlang parameters (k). Results are reported for values of k up to 25.