Translating system cycle time and throughput specifications into flow control requirements

Abstract In this paper, an Algorithm of Cycle time and Throughput Translation (ACTT) is developed on top of an open queueing network (OQN) model of re-entrant lines. It translates the mean cycle time and throughput rate into requirements for job input rates and variation bounds of job inter-arrival time for individual machine groups. ACTT combines decomposition-based techniques for approximating a re-entrant OQN and solves two sets of linear equations. Validation over a benchmark re-entrant line demonstrates that ACTT approximates are mostly within 95% of accuracy as compared to simulation results. In all the validation cases, ACTT requires less than one second of CPU time.

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