Allocation of buffer capacity to minimize average work-in-process

This paper proposes an efficient heuristic algorithm to solve the problem o f allocating the buffers in a production line for given total buffer capaci ty and the minimum required throughput. While the traditional research has focused on the problem of allocating the buffer capacity to maximize the th roughput, the objective of minimizing the average Work-In-Process (WIP) is considered. Minimization of the WIP in the production line has drawn much a ttention in many practical applications, due to the growing efforts in redu cing the production lead times for faster customer response. Two heuristics are proposed and compared to solve the problem. One is a very simple heuri stic approach, and the other is a modified 'Non-SEVA' (Non-Standard Exchang e Vector Algorithm) which was originally proposed by Seong et al. (Internat ional Journal of Production Research, 33, 1989-2005, 1995) for the throughp ut maximization problem. Through computational tests, the efficiency of the proposed approach is shown.