THROUGHPUT AND AVERAGE INVENTORY IN DISCRETE BALANCED ASSEMBLY SYSTEMS

We consider an assembly system consisting of two input machines and an assembly machine, with finite buffers between each input machine and the assembly machine, where all machines operate at deterministic and equal rates, and input machines are subject to random failures. Under the assumption that probabilities of failure and repair are constant d uring each cycle time (i.e., failure times and repair times are geomet ric random variables), we derive the steady-state average throughput a nd inventories for the system.