PERFORMANCE MODELING OF AN FMS WITH FINITE INPUT AND OUTPUT BUFFERS

This paper considers a queueing network model for the performance eval uation of a flexible manufacturing system composed of several parallel workstations (machines), each with both limited input and output buff ers, where machine blocking is allowed and two automated guided vehicl es (AGVs) are used for handling input and output materials. An iterati ve solution algorithm is exploited to approximate system performance m easures such as system throughput and machine utilization. For the app roximation, the queueing network is decomposed into individual queues (input queues and an output queue) to analyze each in isolation. Moreo ver, the output queue (subsystem) composed of finite capacity parallel output buffers and a single server (AGV(O)) is analyzed by using the theory of reversibility. A variety of numerical problems are solved to show the effectiveness of the algorithm in comparison with simulation approach.