Analysis of manufacturing flow lines with unreliable machines

We develop an analytical methodology for the analysis of a tandem manufactu ring flow line with finite buffers and unreliable machines. The flow line i s modelled using Open Queuing Networks. The methodology uses decomposition, isolation and expansion methodologies to calculate the throughput of the f low line. The methodology is tested rigorously. In order to cover a large e xperimental region, orthogonal arrays are used to design the experiments. T he results of these experiments are compared with their corresponding simul ation results. A t-test is carried out to investigate the differences betwe en the simulation results and the results of the analytical methodology. Th e results show that the methodology developed is robust and remarkably accu rate over a nide range of parameters.