Inventory and capacity trade-offs in a manufacturing cell

This paper describes an investigation into the trade-off between capacity, inventory and variance reduction techniques for buffering against uncertain ty and model mix fluctuations in a manufacturing cell. The cell is patterne d after one that produces engine blocks which feed directly on to the assem bly line at a plant manufacturing large diesel engines. A simulation model is used to evaluate the effect of different buffering techniques on capacit y utilization, throughput time and output rate. Two production control syst ems are used in the cell, one based on a pull approach, the other on a push approach. The results show that variance reduction and capacity increases are serious alternatives to using inventory for buffering in either system. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.