THE BOWL PHENOMENON IN UNPACED LINES

Issues relating to the bowl phenomenon in unpaced lines have been stud ied extensively; however, no previous paper has determined optimal bow l configurations of mean processing times for a given line length and buffer capacity under realistic operating conditions. We have discover ed bowl-shaped configurations that perform better than perfectly balan ced lines for systems of at least 30 workstations in length with inter station buffer capacities of up to one unit. Solid evidence confirms a n earlier conjecture that the optimal two-level (i.e. flat-bottomed) a llocation of mean processing times performs no worse than the optimal multi-level configuration. Information useful to the industrial engine er has been obtained through an examination of the maximum amount of i mbalance that still provides some productivity benefit. It has been fo und that the amount of imbalance in a line can generally be double the imbalance in a optimal bowl and still perform better than the balance d line. This study also contradicts earlier conclusions in that the bo wl phenomenon is still appropriate for smaller coefficients of variati on and greater buffer capacities.